interest lawyer and politician mark green. author of bright, incident future. a generational memoir. he talks about his life and career in public office. drive whereo have a you have to wake up and go to sleep and think i want this so much, if you do everything you win. >> parts one air sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. in part two will air sunday 9 p.m. eastern on c-span two. >> group of young activist discussed the impact racial has on education. this is part of a conference hosted by the national education association. it is an hour and 20 minutes.

[applause] buenos dias, mi nombre es lorenzo. good morning, my name is lorenzo. your moderator for this panel is made. i want to begin by honoring and thinking that people whose land we stand on today. invitationhank the to be here. as a former third and fifth grade bilingual on the physical teacher, it is a privilege to be among you. as someone who works several years in the field of racial justice, public education, work has been about intersectional

grandson,d as a son, great-grandson and the great-great-grandson of labor activists in mexico and the u.s., i stand with you. quote by begin with a jesse williams who recently gave an acceptance speech. speech has gone viral. for those who did not know, he a character on gray's anatomy. burden of thethe brutalized is not to confront the bystander, that is not our work. because this will

probably or hopefully be an uncomfortable session for all of us. the reason for that is that the work of dealing with racism should be accountable. it is hard work. we are here to seek truth. we invite you to take care of yourself and be mindful of your breathing. if you ask yourselves, when you feel comfortable, where is that color,dy as people of , poverty,queer diseases, our bodies are site of struggle. we had a choice but to be in our bodies. we know our bodies are sites of power. let us all be in our bodies today. i would like to think of moment to honor the lives of the axacaers murdered in o

mexico and the people murdered in orlando florida and the transgender people murdered. for people of turkey and ,fghanistan and syria and iraq venezuela, honduras, wounded knee, ferguson, jasper, baltimore them at victims of american genocide of slavery and manifest destiny and jim crow , thehe war on drugs, nafta 500 70 people killed by police this year as of yesterday. comprehensiveway yet no conversation about systemic racism can be had

without naming the truth that we are all connected. i listed tragedies out of chronological order because our suffering is not linear, it is cyclical. our wins transcend generations. us, there has been a closer because there is no end. i called people outside the u.s. goes to work to dismantle systemic racism cannot be dealt with in the confines of these borders. it is pervasive and global in its reach. our consciousness must include an awareness of and solidarity toward the struggle of people. let us not forget that for many immigrants, perhaps most, the experience or its ramifications do not begin with a arrived in

the country, for many it began and it was the reason why they left their home to begin with. i say all this because the people who have experienced or survived are trying to survive are in your classrooms, are sitting across from you at parent-teacher conferences. perhaps those who are unable to attend, they are in your communities, they are our communities. i am one of those people. and many of this panel are of these people. it is now my profound honor to introduce five young people of color who embody a multiplicity of the and let intersectional life and hold politics in awareness of intersection now

the -- intersection alley knowing -- intersectionality knowing we are all connected. the stores are complex and often aboutl and yet resilience. please join me in welcoming these panelists. [applause] [applause]

i will speak briefly about the process of the panel and what we will be doing this morning. there be an opportunity for young people to share their stories. men are paying, or pain, ourname our peopleand the resilience are doing to change the world and communities. there are index cards on your tables on which you can write questions that you would like to ask our panelists. there are staff and volunteers across the room will be circulating typical questions. folks can raise their hands. people who are volunteers and staff. a wonderful thank you. there will be a brief cause towards the end of the panel discussion for us to sort

through questions. we will try to answer as many as time allows us. we will have time for another table activity which will build you haverk adjusted -- just did. that was a lot of talking. i went out today seat so you can listen to the stories from our panelists and get started. [applause] first up, dakota. >> my name is dakota brown. i come from jackson california. youth, it as a native all if i like the odds were stacked against me. native youth have these terrible statistics that follows. highest dropout rate, low

graduation rate, higher suicide rate. all the terrible statistics. my family on both sides struggle with alcoholism. all these different things. going to school without on my shoulders is rough. to add on to that, there's always this discrimination. i can remember all the way back to elementary school in third grade, there's an incident that a lot of you about this yesterday. there's an incident in third grade we were assigned a project . historical figures project. we were supposed to pick a person from industry -- history who inspired us. about them.write i thought long and hard and i settled on chief red c

loud.aroma essay -- i wrote my s addressed as him and before i had a chance to share with my peers about him in all the great work you did, a group of older students had gathered around me and started giving me fake war cries, dancing around me, mocking native traditional dances, plucking the feathers from a headdress. it was a dramatic experience as a third grader and something i've carried with me for the use. -- through the years. as a young person, i did not stand why that happened -- understand why that happened until i got to high school and i was when i started to realize the role that racism actually realizing there is this

thing with mascots that mascots played a role with institutional racism against native youth. when you take mascots into consideration, to have a real effect on native youth. your dehumanizing an entire race and i can have a fact -- in effect on the kid. it makes them feel worthless. i've had to do with. going out on the football field as a player plan against teams that use native mascots within the people on the sidelines wearing headdresses or cheerleaders in there over socialized outfits but to civilize our dresses. people doing the fake war cries and stereotypical drumbeats builds up. as an athlete, out there on the field, you are taught to take it and swallow your pride and deal with it.

it is something that builds up and down on top of that, in the classroom debuted often get overlooked. one of the big issues i've had with my spirits is the misrepresentation of natives in our history classes. natives are often represented as it we are not here anymore. as if we are no longer alive. we all died on the trail of tears, but on reservations, don't exist anymore. that has been a real issue. having to speak up and say that is not entirely right. there's this and this. being a native youth has been tough having to struggle with this curriculum that our students are taught and on top of that, they're all these things that add up for some reason, native americans are one

of the only races that have to validate ourselves for some reason. americanof your native -- tell yourself -- tell someone your native american and he will say you don't look at. really, for some reason we have to validate ourselves and as a native youth you go through life with all of these struggles. all these different things that build up and it gets rough and emotional. >> thank you, dakota. [applause] thank you for sharing your story. >> i am one of many migrant students who work countless

hours in the fields and traveled back and forth from state to state seasonally. my brother is undocumented. being his older sister, i want to see him succeed and want to see him do the best and be the best that he can never be. however, because he is undocumented, he feels that being in this country he doesn't have options, that he doesn't have a dream and that his dreams don't count. and it's tough. going to school with him, we have both encountered so many racial slurs being attacked on for who we are and what we do, which is honorable work. is not something to be ashamed of at all. not something to be put down for. i remember going to class one day and we actually had to go across the street where he was in middle school. i was in high school. and a kid in front of me yelled and said "look at that beaner.

look at that beaner kicking the ball like he doesn't know how to play soccer." and he was talking about my brother. i was looking to see who would react to this intolerable language and nobody said a word. that hurt. that shocked me. how is this land supposed to be welcoming but the people are not? i stood up and i said something because that was not going to be tolerated. that was something that i was not going to let everyone know that was ok for people to say. and i told him, you know what, that's my brother you are talking about. and in case you don't know, what you said was racist. and that is not ok. that wasn't the first time, however. with other caucasian females

that were in school who would constantly tell me, you know what, you don't belong here. you need to go back and pick my apples. you need to go back to the field where you belong because you do not belong here. as unfortunate as that may be, i did work in the fields and i still do. since i was 10 years old, i worked alongside with my parents, picking oranges, apples, tomatoes, every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine, because that is what we did. that is what we came to this country to do, to move our family ahead and to make them have a debtor future and have a better living than what my parents had. when i was preparing to graduate my senior year in high school, the earl j leonard high school i had an incident with a guy who

was also [indiscernible] when i approached her and talk to her about my dreams and aspirations of wanting to apply to michigan state university and that i wanted to go into law school and focus on immigration and help everyone and help everyone understand and educate them, she laughed at me and said, i'm sorry, you need to pause for a second. take a look at your life and your surroundings. michigan state is a big school and i think you should consider maybe community college. but you know what? let me think about it. she said, no, you might have to apply next year or the upcoming semester because right now will be too late for you. and you probably won't get in. i thought to myself, you are latina and i'm latina. we are supposed to be helping each other. we are supposed to be pushing each other to do better. [applause] and that was not the case. that was not the case in this matter.

whatever her motivation was, it was not complete and it was not achieved because i went past that. [applause] because she wasn't helpful, because she was unsupportive, i went to my migrant counselor, who helped me and pushed me and still continues to do the work that she does with me with other students and because of her, i am where i am not just her, but another guy in michigan, in grand rapids, her name is lisa who loves working with migrant students and him always motivates us, someone who is not latina, but caucasian, help me achieve my goals and continued to be motivated and determined and still does that to this day. because of people like her, i am where i am. because of the same clothing that i had with pesticides walking around, attracting attention i did not need, i am

where i am. but i am proud of what i did and what i still do walk -- working in the field along with my parents, being a migrant student, and breaking the mold and breaking the sculpture that people want to see me as, i am where i am. [applause] >> where are you going to school right now? esbeydy: i attend michigan state university. [cheers and applause] host: thank you. ok. we are going to move on to blossom brown.

blossom: good morning, everyone. i name is blossom brown. i am a southern belle from jackson, mississippi. i've always dealt with issues in school. a lot of my issues were more in high school and college. in high school, it was dealing with my hiv status. in college, it was my gender identity. i went to a mostly black school that was impoverished. two weeks after my 17th birthday, there was a blood drive at school. people in the area needed blood and i thought it was a perfect time to help somebody. plus, i wanted to know what my blood type was. i gave blood. two weeks later, i got a call at home. my mother answered the phone at first. they didn't want to speak to her. they had to speak to me. when you are 17 in mississippi, you are considered an adult with your medical records. they told what my blood type was and they said you need to come in for further testing. i'm, like, what's going on?

your testes saying that you are hiv-positive but we need you to come in and to make sure. i told my mother, who was obviously devastated, and we went down to the health clinic together. when i got there, they basically told me that my blood had been tested six times and that i was hiv-positive. this was two weeks after my 17th birthday. it was so hard to see my mother shed tears, my mother so disappointed in me and me disappointed in myself. and i had to take that back to my school. in the black community at school, hiv is not a [indiscernible] i decided to tell my friends because i wanted to be open and honest. and the people i thought were my friends really were not because they did nothing but laugh at me. they talked about me behind my back. rumors got around school about my hiv status. and one of my favorite teachers, who happened to be wide, said how stupid are you to go around and tell your hiv status.

when that word got back to me, i try to recant everything because i did not want to go into my senior year having to deal with that. i pretended that i had diabetes instead. i recanted everything. so going into college, i had the issue of dealing with my gender identity. my mother, at the time, would not have approved of me living is my true authentic self. when i went to college, i would dress as a woman, but i would come home dressed as a boy because i did not want to let my mother to find out. i started applying to nursing school. the first time, i did not get in. maybe i need to change my atp school or get my grades up or something. after about three more times, i still. -- still did not get in. i asked someone who did get in

what she did and she said i apply -- she had a much lower gpa than me. i applied and i got in. and guess what. she was white. of course. so disappointed, i had to go to the university level. i attended the university of mississippi for women. i got put on the waiting list. by then, i had to push my major. i ended up falling love with public health. but the issues i had were campus life. i was housed in a coed dorm but in a male hall. and that is one of the most traumatizing experiences ever. people who had never been exposed, physically never been exposed to transgender people, coming up to me, trying to get a good look, laughing at me and feeling all alone and no one would help. luckily, my sweet maid, who was

a guy, was the first person who became my friend -- my suite mate, who was a guy, was my first person who became my friend. while i was in college, i began to do work with the human rights campaign, which eventually would lead me to be on the caitlyn jenner show on "i am caitlin," and i was able to share my story about not being able to be accepted to nursing school. i was also able to be on "the ellen agenda show." this would lead me to getting my bachelors degree in public health. the first transgender woman of color to graduate from my university. [applause]

however, after everything, when i got back to my school, there was no word of my competence at all. nothing on the computer, nothing on the school website, the bulletin board or anything. however, there were two culinary school students who got a $20,000 scholarship and they were white. their faces were plastered on the school's website, on the bulletin board. and i thought to myself have always it two culinary students with a $20,000 scholarship with who are white get the attention, but a famous talkshow host who decided to give me a $20,000 ownership and i'm black could not get that same attention. that to this day still bothers me. however, i feel as an alum, it is my duty to protect the next transgender or gender nonconforming student there. i still feel the pain, but it's racism.

and is something that we all have to deal with and it was something i had to deal with. but i'm willing to help the next person so they wouldn't have to go through this. [applause] >> thank you, blossom. next, we have alfred dudley iii. alfred: hello, everyone. i went to the center for visual and performing arts, one of the many programs at the high school. there are many programs like that.

all of my teachers there were beyond exceptional. they were everything that i needed to use education as an escape from the environment or just as an opportunity for me to get where i wanted to be in life. they literally give me support. they challenged me to actually come emotionally, artistically, almost every regard. with their help, i was able to get into the school of art in new york. the culture shark -- the culture shock moving from prince george county to new york was a little jarring for me. on an artistic level and on a physical level. for example, in pg, we know all the officers by name. they live in the area. and if you are caught doing anything -- i was not really caught doing anything -- [laughter]

but if you are caught doing anything, they know you and they call your mom and you get sent home probably. whereas in new york, you are stopped, sniffed -- i said sniffed -- and hopefully you escape arrest. i can't count how many times i have been stopped and sniffed by dogs on the subway, on the street, literally in every borough, too. that was really different from pg where i am just another person. my identity is sound good to me falling into a larger sphere or spectrum of individuals who look like me, talk like me, at like me, and are of the same disposition. when you go to new york, especially in a very different scenario, the environment was on to you the same way that people usually respond to digital media for the only association or experience they have with a person of color like myself, who looks like myself, who is 6'2"

and black, you know, is [indiscernible] so i was suspect on the streets. i was also suspect in the classroom. the way that education words, as we all know, while you are teaching summary math, engineering, science, history, you are also inputting your biases based on, well, how racism affects your mind in relation to the subjects. for example, art, if a white student were to come in, bring in a painting of a flower and now this flowers all about beauty and the technical aspects of the flower and this artist just thinks flowers are beautiful. whereas i bring a flower or any student of color brings in a flower, it is all about my racial identity represented through a flower. [laughter] that is really annoying, first off. [cheers and applause]

but it's also disheartening when you bring in work that is about identity, right? and you get the opposite effect. for example, i read "between the world and me." i decided to bring in a portrait of the author juxtaposed with a canon. i was looking for a reaction. not, oh, my god, it's a black man. more, like, i would like to engage with this media and juxtapose and let's talk about it. and i got the treatment that the white flower guy. who is this guy? we don't really know. let's move on and talk about how it looks and that's at a pretty-ish. that is disheartening, when your entire identity is example five through some form of artwork is not able to be engaged in merely

because the people were there, who are predominantly white, have no expense with that. and the only thing they do have is the idea that you are more than likely the criminal element and this is probably her uncle or the one black teacher who comes through sometimes. it's exhausting, constantly being viewed as an outside entity, like i am other there. and constantly being an outsider and having to explain yourself and put yourself on full display is not only humbling, but terribly uncomfortable in every scenario. >> thank you, alfred. [applause]

next up, we have eve gomez. >> first, i want to thank everyone for sharing with us. my name is eve gomez. my first name is french and my last in his portuguese. but i came here with my parents from india. my parents came to this country wanting to provide me and my brother with a future that they never had. i think it's great that we are honoring ourselves and you're giving us of the space s as students. but i must acknowledgment really reason i am here is because my father, who did not have a formal education, but as an

country, came to this country, and he was able to get a work permit and he was able to work in a dignified union job. he worked in this very hotel. [applause] and i think that is so important because, in wake of what happened last week with the decision, millions of undocumented families who would now have the ability to work legally are still being denied that right. so for my father, what that man that's what that meant is the time that he put in the hotel, 12 to 14 hours, he was able to put my mother through her education. my mother was able to get her degree in computer science. she was able to start teaching as a computer science teacher. and we were able to make that shift from a working-class poor family to the american middle class. so growing up, my brother and i had a very comfortable living. but in 2006, that all changed. in 2006, the courts decided that

asylum would no longer be appealed. for the first time ever, we became undocumented. it meant that, for the first time, my family would start to live like what 99% of our families look like. he started working under the table at a restaurant and my mother had to quite her phd studies in computer science and start volunteering in the community. in 2008, my father, one summer evening, was pulled over for a blown taillight. and the following week, august 9, 2008, 6:00 in the morning on saturday, immigration and customs enforcement raided our apartment. i remember seeing him walked out the door in handcuffs. he turned to me and he said you have to be strong.

you have to be strong for your mom. you have to be strong for your brother. that was the last day i saw him. for the next six months, he was held in immigration detention in texas before he was deported back. so my mother was able to retain an attorney and she was able to get a one-year extension on her case. but under the condition that she would waer a tracking anklet as if she were some animal. i remember walking into the immigration office. the officer showed us a paper they were not supposed to show a classified my mother is high risk to this nation because of her education. what that is telling me is someone who always looked my mother as a role model, that a grown woman living in the united states post-9/11, because of her education, she is still a threat.

both of my parents were deported in 2009. the same fate awaited me in 2010. i was allowed to graduate high school and not be deported. i had tremendous support for my teachers, my counselors. one of my teachers is here today, ms. atkins. [applause] i had tremendous support for my high school counselors, my friends. they rallied around me. they petitioned for my stay. and prior to my deportation date, i was deferred in 2010. i thought that process was also very interesting because, although my community that new may supported me unconditionally, the intention and the things i would get from the outside was really interesting.

so as a south asian person who is undocumented, i remember, in my story, saying, look, i am not criminal. i am hard-working. i would also say -- people would say, at least you tried to come the right way. that is not as bad. i remember one time i was on a talk show with someone who happen to be a white protestant minister. he said yves is a great guy, a great student. let him stay in this country barring one thing. if he is muslim, he has to go back. i remember being on the show saying, no, no, i'm christian. but on retrospect, what i've learned is i don't find it a coincidence that i basically said, look, i'm not criminal. and in doing that, basically it says i'm not black. because in this country, from what my black peers have told me is that they backing criminal is

synonymous. -- being black are synonymous. when people say that he tried to come here legally, i did not take into consideration the trauma that my latino brothers and sisters go through when there parents risk their lives to come to this country. by saying i wasn't muslim, i wasn't critically analyzing that these are my own people. and the reason people migrate is because of u.s. foreign policies. [applause] and i think that is very telling, right? as a south asian person that people would say, but you don't look mexican. [laughter] i say that jokingly now, but it just shows how ingrained these ideas are driven into us.

and it's important to have a systemic analysis of racism. it is beyond interpersonal. i'm so glad to be here today with you as educators because systemic racism is now manifesting itself in the attack on public education. the fact that your job can be attacked, the fact that my education can be attacked, the fact that my people can be taken up in immigration raids on the way to school , they have to show, look, the fact that this is happening means that you are inadequate, you are inadequate as it is good -- inadequate as students. we know that is not the case. as people we must work together, think critically, analyze things on a larger scale and you sure

as hell know if you are going to be standing up for rights as a student, the time comes he will have to go on strike, students will be right next to you having your back. [applause] >> thank you, yves. i want to thank the panel and i want us -- there has been a lot of emotions stirring because of the stories and i want to take a moment to recognize and to think of where all of that is in our bodies right now to be mindful of that. there were several -- in the field of racial justice -- wayng to understand as a

toward dismantling -- how do we understand the experiences we go through, right? some of the theories that come racial micro-aggression, little, little things that just, you know -- we spent the last couple weeks working together -- yesterday, we had conversations in one of the things that came up was, how often we are told how well spoken we are, how articulate we are, right? or, you don't even look mexican or all of these ways or -- and things said as though they are complements, right? but they're actually, they are painful, right? they say something or, you know, you are the exception, you are the one that got out -- what does that mean that the people who did not? wanting to pull us out of our

communities when we insist on, we are still part of our communities, we do endorse that we are centered in grounded in who we are. the other one that came up was this notion of invisibility, what does it mean to be -- to have people -- to have people talk about your people as they no longer exist -- the implicit bias, the ways in which we perceive people we just make assumptions about their capacities about what they can achieve, we make assumptions about what their desires are and , internalizednt racism, you know, like when someone -- one another latina tells you, you don't even go to michigan state, maybe community college, like, what is going on in the person that they can vocalize that, that they can think that about another brown woman? just this idea of the

myth of the model minority, right? pitting you against each other. one, right?erves no well, it certainly serves systemic racism but it doesn't serve communities of color. we want to go on to holding faith to go back into some of to sitainful moments and with that for a bit, not with the intention of fetishizing pain or putting it on display but to hold faith and name delays ways in which systemic racism causes pain, that it is not all theoretical, that it is in fact in our bodies. i'm going to start with dakota. i would like to go back to the point you made earlier around fitsibility, where does it in the body, when you are

sitting in a classroom and people are talking about native americans as if they no longer exist, right? what does it mean to be the survivor of genocide? dakota: i would like to connect this was something that i heard earlier. educators were responding to the question. something i heard was that, our native students don't get the benefits that they have on the reservation when they leave, and -- i will be honest, i do not know who said it. that kind of struck a nerve with 93% of our native american students attend public schools off the reservation in natives known as "urban

." not all of us live on the reservation. werenot know what benefits being discussed on the reservation because if you go through south dakota, if you look at the living conditions, if you look at the conditions of the schools, it is as if those people are living in a third world country. it struck a nerve. not a whole lot of benefits on the reservation. americansnk, native get checks from the casinos that they'll all have, native americans don't have to pay taxes -- that is not the case at sitting there, during our teachers talk about native as ifts, native americans

we are all dead. as if we no longer exist. it is frustrating. sitting in the back of the classroom hearing teachers go on and on about the trail of tears and little bighorn and all of these things thing we all died. , tiring.t it is. a lot of times are native students are already struggling with the trauma that we have suffered from genocide to boarding school. a lot of our students are being raised by grandparents who actually had to deal with these issues put into the institutions that cut their hair, took away their pride and ethnicity. that was the motto. are having tots do with this historical trauma in teaching our kids. we have the problems with the education system as native

students because of the history we have experienced. to put in the classroom and here we are all dead is frustrating. as educators, we need to start teaching our students that we are still here. we're still alive. there are 567 federally recognized tribes across the states. i try was not recognized until 2009. there are still some dealing with the problem. teaching our students that we are still here, still alive. taking them on field trips to learn about our native tribes. speakers intoive the classroom. to teach us about modern native americans. we don't all live on the reservation. we did not all die. we are still here. we have great native leaders. [applause]

we need to teach students about them that we are still here. pity. thank you. [applause] back told like to go that moment the high school counselor. several expenses myself -- experiences myself having brown people tell me that because my father was an immigrant, let's bring me down a bit. you,someone who is nearing what is that pain when another latina turns her back on your? ? >> i was surprised when she told me that. as a hispanic committee, we are

all united. we try to help everyone out. hispanicn the community, we want to help everyone out. we want to be able to push everyone and feel determined and motivated to go above and beyond and so when she told me what are you thinking, take a look at your life, i merely thought, -- i merely thought that was something someone who doesn't like my rates would say. race would say. i thought about this sculpture that people want to fit me in. see me as a migrant student. i can't be an migrant student going to a top university. i can't be a migrant student going above what he or she can do. i do not want hurt to think that. because you left at my face, i used that as motivation and

energy and she was feeding me all this negative energy in all these negative thoughts. i took all of that and said, i'm going to prove you wrong because you are not right. this is not right what you are doing. [applause] that, having her really got counselor that she was, i was supposed to go to her for help. go to her for guidance. she was pushing me towards the wrong direction. she was pushing me towards going backwards and not going forwards. and not being the best that i can be. she was not great to be that person i could look up to and for guidance. i did not go to her anymore. i went to mike migrant advisors and ask them, i need help. if she's not going to help me, who is? i went to them and the migrant , so manynd asked

student drive me because she let go of the wheel. mesomeone needs to drive because she let go of the wheel. [applause] >> thank you. toould like to go back as a transpiration and as the only trans woman on campus being forced to live in the male dorm. that was one of the worst experiences ever. the state of mississippi says if you have not had your sexual reassignment surgery you have to live in a dorm that you are born to. if you were born there, you have to live in a male dorm. it was traumatizing that whenever they would have

meetings and you have to walk into a room surrounded by nothing but men and they are in a conversation and stop and look at you and all you want to do is break down and cry. i had to run away from the room. it was traumatizing. very traumatizing just having that experience. in the trauma, i also had to be someone grateful for the educators who actually helped me along the way. a shout out to everyone in the house and can easy knowledge department -- health and key kne kinesiology department. [applause] the help they graduate. after that my other professors who checked on me when there were times that were rough. does educators i look up to -- those educators, i look up to. i look into this room of wonderful educators.

which out. transgendered suicides are high. we feel like we don't have a safe space. i really encouraging everyone here to create a safe spaces for the transgender students to come and talk to you about problems. you never know that you are saving someone's life. i'm living proof of that. [applause] >> thank you. what isnded of going on north carolina for transgender people and not be able to use the restroom. how the of because of world perceives them, if they in as note the rest of that

a lie with the gender identity, the risk of being attacked or interested. we're living in a binary world where trans bodies are being policed. thank you. ura black lives matter activist -- you are a black lives matter activist. on you beinglow up censored with your body. grow up in a community where everyone to see floors and thrive and then he moved to another state where you are a suspect and another. what if you could talk about that and how that feels on the body. and as an artist, how do you

evoke that? and any way attention to represent how i feel about things is always really difficult primarily because most of my emotions are always at the extreme. oftentimes i met a point of limited duty -- t and pure angst. -- levity and pure angst. to go to black lives matter spaces. in your there's always a rally every three weeks. people are dying constantly. i could list them off. to go to those bases and be there and to be loud and active, to have an opportunity to express yourself, i can like that is one of my premier outlets of how i feel. i, friends and invite my friends. that is what we do. and i'm there, i feel agency.

i feel like i'm not just another statistic. i feel like i'm a part of a larger scheme. like jesse williams said, the notem is corrupt it is effectively provided for us and it will not stand unless we stand with it and we refers to do that. black lives matter to me is people coming up and taking things in their hands and saying i will not allow you to treat me like a second-class citizen or less than and i will put things in my own hands and we will be out here loud and we're going to .reate a break >> thank you. [applause]

>> in the conversation that we yesterday, when the things we talked about was the fear of coming out as undocumented and one of things we were talking yesterday was the importance of language in the light used to talk about a documented people. i was wondering if you could speak specifically to determine illegal and term where the pain sits when that word is heard? >> i remember when i first came out. it was to one of my counselors -- sheas chosen basically said why have you not yet applied to this.

cannote first time i knows stumbling for words because i did not know how to describe my condition. .o say, i'm illegal add to come out and say that. i felt so dehumanized. no human being is illegal. i thought about that and told her, i don't have to say this, i don't have legal status in this country. i was terrified when i said that her because i was so afraid of being judged. my counselor was apathetic -- empathetic and was able to directly towards resources. she said colleges don't care about your immigration status, you can still go to school. when i didmforting

not know what i would still be here. meer counselors would push and tell me to keep applying to schools. i was like, what is the point? he would keep encouraging me to a party schools. -- apply to schools. the term illegal we should take out of our vocabulary's. [applause] we added onmething our own, it is something that has been fed to us. on that note, i want to reference back to what i said earlier about addressing the idea of this element of criminality. but i bet i had to decline being black, latino or muslim. these are communities that are at the process of mass incarceration and mass surveillance. language is powerful. i encourage everyone to be

mindful of that. >> thank you. [applause] a quick shout out to the organization formally known as the applied research center, they haven't campaign called drop the i word. the [applause] thank you. do we have some questions? them ofe excited to ask the panelist and get some answers to you. ok. we have 50 minutes for this. -- 15 minutes for this. i will direct questions.

how do we approach trans students to support them or is it enough to just post images and set expectations to enforce safe spaces? >> i always just say that to reach out to a trans person and meet them where they are. and you can build a better relationship with adtran student -- that trans student. yet that the grammar they are, what they are going through in what they are dealing with. try not to be judged mental. -- judgmental. people.what i tell as a starter.

>> thank you. dakota. what was something that a teacher did to you in the classroom to make you feel safe and accepted and what advice would you give to make sure everyone feels welcome? think, especially during high school, one thing one of my teachers did had a profound impact on me was that his classroom was always open. it did not matter if it was the morning, lunch, afterschool. he was usually there late. neededld come in if you a quiet space or if you wanted to just talk. he was there. that was something that was comforting. go and haveo just

some place. be with this teacher who was down to earth. you could talk to like a regular person. that was something comforting. was?d part >> what advice would you give to a classroom teacher so everyone feels welcome? >> just that. opening up your classroom. barely tell students that this is some place to come if you are not comfortable. if you are having a bad day. my classroom is always open. feel free to stop by. we can talk. we can listen to music or read a book or something along those lines. >> thank you. how do you engage in productive conversation with those who may be resistant to progress or social change conversations?

that is a tough question. as someoney think who is done a lot of community engagement that you try to meet people where they are. not to say, that is unnecessarily become synonymous with giving up what i believe in but just as, first having conversations and having places to have conversations to see why people think a certain way. not willing to move on their views, i don't continue speaking to them. i going to the next person. -- go on to the next person. it is important to be intentional about wanting to have these conversations and

especially when it comes to undocumented students. face to times having a the issue is important. before you would invite and speak, ist citizen people to important to have conversation. before classroom, teachers would have students read articles about different situations to get the conversation going. as emotionally taxing on the i come here and share my trauma but knowing that these conversations have artie been had is huge.y been the intention of having the conversation does help to add a face to the issue. before doing that, make sure you have done work. thank you. >> thank you. think is the most

important thing educators can do to instill confidence and resilience in our students? >> i think what is most important is to never give up on students, migrant students especially because as a student myself, going through middle school and high school afterschool i got home and had to address, go to work. dressed, go to work and then worked long hours working outside in the fields. woman, i do still get home i had tomy mother -- go get home and how my mother nature dinner was ready and that my brothers and sisters were ready. i would stay up really late to do my homework and not get enough sleep.

i think the best advice for educators that are working with the students just to have patience and always motivate them. let them know that you are struggling and that you know their work is appreciated and that they are not being hidden behind cameras or behind a curtain or a desk just not knowing. i think just continue to motivate them. let them know that their work is appreciated both in school and on the field. and to let them know that you are there for them. student, when i met my guidance counselor, i felt like i did not know who to turn to. who would i go to for advice? being a latina, i don't know much about college or about the process.

who was i going to go to? i think it is just a matter of being supportive and patient and continuing to motivate the student would be my answer. >> thank you. what prejudices and forms of discrimination do you see in our schools? >> the number one phrase that is said to me within five minutes of meeting someone is you are so articulate. [laughter] people in the of past several years just being that destroys everything i've said. it almost takes away all the

thaty or power or respect we proceed from these individuals in that span of time. and really in balance everything. you are so great and i appreciate the way you are speaking right now. however, my hidden micro aggressions and my understanding of your race is challenged by who you are. i really appreciate it. [applause] earlierd about this about exceptionality if people being interesting and able to communicate multiple levels but when you, is disguised as an example, sayn, for

you are in a classroom. you are producing some drawings. their abstract or crazy. you andcher comes up to your making a dry like him -- drawing like him and it has similar themes and she's like, you better watch out, looking too much like him. don't want to get boxed in. studentse that other are doing things that are representative of everything else. you're confused and put into this awkward situation of not necessarily recognizing why you feel uncomfortable but you know that there is something in there that was a trigger and i feel like for all the issues i've

had, there has always been a case in error that thing has happened. i do like those are present in we should really make sure that we recognize what we're saying. you are teaching them also where you think they stand, like you as a black person in relationship to art history, if you're influencing that inside of your educational curriculum, then that will make me feel, it will affect my education in either a positive or negative way. [applause] >> thank you. we just have a couple more, to appreciate everyone's patience. thank you for honoring this space for our panelists. question, i'm

wondering, it is complicated. i will challenge you to answer this question in one minute or less. >> challenge accepted. [laughter] >> would you think of the response, i don't see color or race, everyone is the same in my eyes. 1,2,3, over there. youhen you pretend that don't recognize i am the different color, really pushing all responsibility of the difference between us and relinquishing the fact that i come from a different socio-economic status and you pretending that you don't recognize that is more detrimental to my education and life overall. [applause]

>> were done. that's it. i walk in the room and dived people black. default black. if you tell me you did not notice there is a color difference, period. colors exist, racism exist and please don't pretend. any responsibly of the knowledge i received ever about the differences. [applause] >> thank you. >> say that color does not exist

like saint racism does not exist. it is like saying the holocaust never happened. saying that hitler did not happen. it is putting everyone under the rug and saying we're not going to talk about that. .voiding that we exist our culture exist. we are all here and it matters. we should not be covered. we should not be hidden. [applause] little hard following that. whoeverunds to me that asked that question is privileged. don't even address their own privilege. to understand, you have to go through the struggle of being a person of color, you have to understand that we are oppressed people. that the color of your skin does make a difference. because a difference when we talk about feminism, and

, but theyach to tend to talk more about white women been like women and how we make less money. we make less money than white women. thoseup to us to address topics. whoever asked that question is afraid of the unknown. afraid to open those doors of conversation. we have to have those doors of conversation to open. you can push that underneath the rug. underneathsh that the rug. i like to think about the colorblindness. think about in terms of a system. when you treat something like cancer, you don't say we will ignore it and it will go away.

it attacks the entire body. unless you can pinpoint what happens, you will not find a cure. the current therapy is chemotherapy. but that destroy someone told body. -- someone's whole body. people whointo always want to learn, learning but thed we live in now racism goes beyond the interpersonal. it manifests itself when a latina counselor can tell a fellow latino student that you are nothing. acts like the world today is in a vacuum when we note that is not the case. there has been history of colonialism, slavery, of u.s.

imperialism and conquest between our peoples that has brought us to today. we can go back and analyze that and how we want to go forward. [applause] all the other panelists have sent a perfect. fix the problem i pretending it is not there. you can't look at incarceration rates, you can look at the rates of police brutality, you can look at the suicide rates, homicide rates, all of the social injustices that are happening. everybody gets with those. you can't say that and say i don't see color. it is not going to happen. when you look at those, people of color are the ones being most discriminated against. are the ones that lead the statistics.

it is ridiculous to say i don't see color. >> thank you. i will answer that question two. oo. we talk about colorblindness. as if there is a benevolent behind it. we talk about the income inequality between men and women that for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes $.70. what they're really saying is that the person who make a dollar is a white man and the person making the $.78 is a white woman. because a latina makes $.54 for every dollar the white man makes. a latinaetween what

makes and a white woman is greater than the gap between what a white woman makes an white man makes. we should all be making the same amount of money. there's enough in the world for all of us. they're not resources. when we pretend there is no color, even our struggles for something like gender equality are halted from the get-go. asked, what has happened to your parents if they are deported? my parents, they were separate and now they're currently living in the middle east in our mother is a teacher there and my dad is staying with her as well. my brother just turned 21 a few tos ago so he is now trying

sponsor them to come back to the states. so that is that. [applause] >> one last point. clarification about this. we want to make sure that we not an important and vital way -- [applause] conflict is a, place where many of us were able to get our education. we want to honor that. can we give it up for the panelists? [applause]

>> that same conference also heard from the executive director from the white house initiative on historically black colleges and universities. he talks about myths associated with young black students and challenge teachers to work against ingrained biases. this 40 minute portion begins with opening remarks from the president of the national education association. >> many of you sitting in this room right now and literally thousands of our colleagues around the country who aren't delegates, art here at the conference who did a little thing. we ask them to help. 10 students from north carolina. will you stand

up. anyone from north carolina. if you were born in north carolina. [applause] carolina,ome in north a very sad situation where some of our students, some of our older students, some of them seniors on their way to picking out a cap and down, many of came not asts undocumented immigrants, these were refugees. these were refugees seeking asylum. it is an entirely different process when you come here saying my life was in danger, i'm applying for a silane -- asylum because i fear for my life. some of the students that had deniedasylum and were

were picked on their way to school. some of them getting on a school bus by the authorities. they were just over 18 years old, so they were not technically children. the authorities put them in detention centers. behind bars waiting to be deported. i met a family, you can see them. they were visiting. they were here in washington dc banking to get their son -- be gging to get the sun out of their detention center. i happened to be at a meeting and i said, i want you to come to this meeting because we are talking about some of our most vulnerable students. the mom and dad and little sister just kind of came into this meeting with the executive

committee and some of our staff and things we were planning on the social justice agenda and i said, we are fighting for people child.is families feminist or cried. we alln't speak -- cried. they made us understand these are real issues. we have been asking people all notes,e country to send hashtags, our congressmen and free their son and his nine students. i can announce to you today that he has been released. [applause]

he is out on bail. which is their process. it was an extremely expensive bail at $30,000 that the family had to put up. the family is not going anywhere. believel appeal and they are qualified for asylum. have theseo need to young people behind bars. it is not a criminal act to be denied asylum. it did not make any sense to put these young folks behind bars. free theill working to other detainees. they have a right to appeal and they should be allowed to do that from their homes with their families. to your delegates

. when things on immigration issues come up, sometimes it is hard to explain. it is incredibly hard to explain comprehensive immigration reform but i have always been able to check it down from our point of view for a report to the person who wants to know why we are involved in something like immigration issues and one of the things i'm able to tell them is we believe in 3 things. you do not harm children for decisions economic. -- they did not make. they came with their parents. you do not separate families. that harms children's. . foryou have a plan citizenship so you don't end up with people living in limbo watching so much to be able part

of this society by being told that they are underclass permanently. those are the three things. we can work with a lot of different issues, but if you can look at comprehensive immigration reform in those context, it helps people understand what we are asking for makes perfect sense. you to ourelcome final session. i go to introduce the head table to you -- and going to introduce the head table to you. we will start with that share of nea patient of the specific caucus. and the nea women's caucus chair. nea sexual orientation gender identity caucus. [applause]

and the head of the civil rights department. [applause] fully and will be appropriate introduced later in the program. we are proud to have dr. ivory tolson here. in the chair of the nea black caucus. and the chair of the joint conference planning committee. and they chair of the nea hispanic caucus. [applause] and the chair of the nea american indian alaska native caucus. [applause] before we get into our final session, they always give the 5 minutes to say

anything he or she once to say to you. so i first of all want to tell you how proud i am to come from the state of utah. where is utah? screams.]n they will back me up. diversitymotto is means you got a presbyterian. [laughter] it is not the first time i use that line but it is always true. i like that line except this time, i want to tell you where we have some bragging rights. while we talk about institutional racism, while we talk about homophobia, while we talk about some of the discrimination of our age and time, i want to talk just a few

about women. i want to talk about women. before the u.s. constitution was , they, there were states allowed women to vote. as soon as the constitution was signed, a rescinded it. from the beginning of our country, we had denied them in the right to vote. fightingight decades for the cause of women's rights to move the state legislature to granting it and it was a territory at the time. state?, which wyoming. give it up for wyoming. [applause] wyoming passed the first law giving women the right to vote. a year later, utah. hello, utah.

they granted women the right to vote. we held our election a few weeks before wyoming so utah women were the first women in the country to be able to cast a ballot, illegal ballot. -- a legal ballots. woman statehe first senator. she was an immigrant. she started as a teacher. she went to medical school at the university of pennsylvania. then she decided to get married. fourth wife of mr. canada. -- cannon. senate inn for state the 1800s as a democrat.

defeating a republican. , her husband. [applause] for my five minutes, i want you withow, don't mess utah women. it is a cool story and i thought i would mention that because as we talk about where we are today, as we talk about breaking made to highest glass ceiling into woman and as we move making big decisions about where we will be in this race, i know that you know whether you are fighting racial injustice, whether you are fighting equality for lgbtq, whether you are writing for equal rights -- fighting for equal rights of

women, nothing that we have was given to us. fought forht for -- by people sitting amongst us here and now. years after the constitution was signed and women votes were taken from them , we will now see a woman at the top of a major party ticket. this is historic. [applause] and we will be talking about the presidential race. delegates will have a big decision in the and thus more endorsement process and we will be hearing from hillary clinton the second day of the ra. [applause]

veryis going to be a historic ra. we will be celebrating our 50th of thesary of the merger american teachers association that represented black teachers in the segregated south and the nea. we are going to be looking back at some of the legacies of the first african-american president of the united states of america. and we are going to be preparing for the possibility of having a madam president of our country. this conference has dealt with history before and i think it is because so many people in this room right now were the first of something. in your local, in your state, you are looking at the first

latina president of the nea. [applause] understand those beginnings. we understand that we are standing on the shoulders of giants that led the way for us. and that we will lead the way are others after us. i am so proud and so proud of us. i'm proud of you. introduce thed to chair of the black caucus who will introduce our keynote. [applause]

>> young people like this wise 11 greater are the reason that dr. toast and traveled the nation debunking the myths about african american students. the other driving force is his family legacy of black empowerment. what his grandfather became the first black man to vote in north

louisiana, a white supremacist try to kill him and destroyed his legacy. failed.races st failed. his grandfather triumph and went on to raise his mother who grew up to be a champion for black rates. mother passed on the legacy and he has run with it. a renowned scholar, educational researcher and author. he talked with educators about misleading statistic that link black youth to crime and question their ability to learn. he has served as an associate professor at howard university. chief of the journal of negro education and senior research

analyst for the congressional black caucus foundation. named one of the 30 top leaders by you sneak -- newsweek magazine. he has appeared on msnbc, c-span, npr news and numerous radio programs. his work has been featured in the washington post and new york times. he has received many awards for his commitment to educational equity. tolson serves as executive director for the white house on historically black colleges and universities are he is a shining example of the talent cultivated at our nations hbcu's. please give a warm and ea a welcome toe activist, scholar, ms. buster,

tolson.uster dr. [applause] >> rarely do i need a moment after an introduction but that was very moving. thank you so much. introductionpiring and i'm always inspired when i talk with jackie. she has so much knowledge and history. the first time meeting her was that the black caucus nea and i will share some of the things i learned her. first, i want to put a io.rection in my b this is the first day i'm not representing the white house. qualityng on to lead education for minorities and i will assume that post as president and ceo

. . [applause] i've had a wonderful time working with president obama's administration. my team and i have done some great things for hbcus. but i have to say that i'm happy that i agree to say whatever i want to say now. i will try it out now. clinton.for hillary [applause] i cannot say that before. so, today i'm going to talk about some of the things i have learned through my research and my interactions with areas people whorebest things for youk males. but black students in general. i also have to say that i was very inspired by the words of young people earlier today. get a chance to get here a

few hours early and i'm happy i did. i'm a researcher that has dealt thousands ofof variables. looked at many different students represented within these large data sets. i also want to tell you that i represent someone other than just a researcher. i represent a child who in fourth grade a teacher identified as a slow learner and placed into a select class with a dumbed down textbook and a group of students she felt were not achieving at the standards of other students. year i was int the teachers class who thought i between fourtho and fifth grade i did not know what i was. i do not know if i was a slow learner or gifted.

i made it both in spite of and because of a future. -- a teacher. [applause] i also grew up with many of the markers that i hear people use to identify students that they think need extra attention. most of the time, negative attention. i grew up in a home with only my mother present. being very well at taking tests. i grew up with some challenges thatg attention in manners traditional learning violence often required. environments often required. as a researcher, i was sensitive to not just the student who do as right, but the students we don't quite understand. when i started research on i have anachievement,

early relationship with nea as i was doing the research, i knew that there were some things i wanted to do different with my research. understand the achievement gap research. i did not understand what people were suggesting. when i saw research and all they did was measure how white males are doing and measure how black males are doing and look at the gap and then left it open like that, i did not understand what kind of solutions that was giving us and i also didn't understand the applications that somehow we needed to answer up the standards applicable in order to do what we needed to do. [applause] famous philosopher named ice cube who once said, who are they for us to be like? what i knew was that young black males achieving were not

achieving because their life, characteristics, the way that they manage their education was more similar to white males, they were managing in a way that met the needs of the community. staynstance, we often say away from trouble, stay away from the wrong crowd. when i was working with young black males, that was not an wrong because the crowd was all around them. the wrong crowd was when they walked to school. the wrong crowd sunday on cocaine out of prison and came into the house. uncle and outat of prison and stayed in their house for a period of time. they achieved by developing certain characteristics and attributes that made them be able to excel an agenda that was broader and bigger than what the narrow environment was showing

people around them. i also knew that to focus on solutions, non-problems. researchvement gap shows problems without solutions. i also wanted to focus on the strength and not the deficits. and the outcome of the earlier research that i did was the report on breaking barriers. many of you are familiar with the breaking barriers report. and with breaking barriers where i featured both statistical analysis and a quote from young inck males, one of them be quote jackie shared earlier where young lack male -- blackmail is a blessing that people try to make a curse. that is where i got the quotes from. he said what about to be seen as a memory.f a name and

what about the person with the name, a statistic and too many are saying. i had the breaking barriers report and i had to focus on solutions, with the help of some , i wasns including nea able to get the message out. one of the things i was met with early on was the cynicism. these people that even when they saw the research in front of them, they did not believe it could happen. they thought it was some kind of exception. they also seem unwilling to try anything different than what they had already been doing. it is kind of like and i was trying to potty train my two-year-old daughter and i went to the internet for clues in the

first article i came to the title was how to have your child out of diapers by the second birthday and i read the first paragraph and it said the first thing you have to do is get rid andll disposable diapers switch to clock. cloth. then i stopped reading. i feel i got is what people did with the report. because theyding know they're getting into an environment that is harmful to the psyche. they are not ready for that. [applause] biases we have in our schools are deeply pervasive and troubling. there is an in-service training openlydid where teachers admitted to the bias. they were proud of their biases.

i did trick them a little bit. i asked the question, how many of you on the first day of class for the first time you meet the students you have the sense about who is going to be good in your closet and successful in life -- class and successful in life? most of them raise their hands. how many of you all get the sense from certain students that they are going to cause you problems and they probably won't measure up to be something in life? and still most of them raise their hands. then i asked, how do you identify? what do you pick up on. i heard things like who their not to are, whether or have a sibling that caused them likeems, i heard things their ability to pay attention. these are biases that they

admitted to. how many biases do you think are out there thrown around that they are either unaware of consciously or too ashamed to admit? oftentimes i will hear things like the reason why we have disproportionality is because so many black students come from zynga. single-parent households. i heard people say the reason we are having these problems in my schools is because we have so many students who are on a free and reduced lunch. these markers that even the teachers that apply under our radar are the ones we are .argeting for racial biases

they're all types of things in the environment that us as a community and teacher activists have to address. why i am parked on this exercise of being the myth the thingsecause of i was being confronted with when i was trying to promote what i found to the research to be the best strategy for educating young black males. one of the things you're going to get for me through this conference is a packet of articles or links to articles where i wrote a series of articles where i challenged all these things that i kept hearing. i'm going to tell you what the articles are about without going too deeply into them. these are what i call the 10 biggest lies that i hear about

young black males. the reason why it is important to understand is because these are often used as the excuse for why certain people in our field are not doing what they're supposed to do for our children. men inone, or more black prison than in college. fact, there are more than 600,000 more black men in college in prison. -- then prison. than prison. [applause] 50% of black boys drop out. most people believe because of their interpretation of some very popular reports including a report with a look at graduation rates, rates. you have to understand the difference between graduation rate and dropout rates in order to interpret the report. the true dropout rate among

black males as characterized by the center for national center for educational statistics is right around 12%. that is nothing to co-op about -- clap about. that will mean look at a rental of black males and think that one of them will drop out, that is not the type of perspective we want our children to have -- teachers to go to the classroom with. number three, black boys can't read. people are identified as nonreaders because of our standardized tests. reasons aall types of student who may be able to read functionally won't do well on a standardized test. if we don't understand is reasons and just use these indicators from the exam to say what percent are not proficient and then interpret proficiency

to doack of of ability the things we need them to do in the school, then we are not going to exercise the best practices when we look work -- work with the students. number four, black students today are more violent than any generation in history. when in fact, crime among black youth escalated in the 80's, reached its peak by the mid-90's, it has been going down since the late 90's and this generation of youth is the least violent of any generation of youth since before the 1960's. [applause] five, one in three black boys will serve time in prison. reports most of the that have claimed this have never looked at black males as they exist now.

these projections. -- they use protective. siterticle must people looks at the year someone was born and then projects their odds of going to prison. he did this report over 10 years cohort the only group of that had a one in three chance a yearse that were born before he wrote the report. in other words, he was looking saying theyd's and would have a one in three chance of going to prison based on what he thought would be an escalation in the crime rate, not a de-escalation which is what we got. boys are the natural disadvantage because most are from single parent households.

i have written two articles in this regard. the summary of those articles is it does not matter the composition of the household, it matters to your parents are. placeatters the body they on education, their engagement with the school, their socialization of a child to the academic environment and has nothing to do with who is in their bed. number seven, black students purposefully underachieve get they associate being smart with acting white. there's a lot i can say about that but i have written an article on it, you can see the evidence that is not true. in fact, among black girls, most of the strongest surveys show that black girls have the highest regard for education than any other group of students out there and in fact, there is

that hasknown function been constantly found in literature and that is called the attitude achievement paradox. that is the fact that most survey research, black students show a higher attitude about the abstract notion of education but there achievement is not measuring up to that. males areht, black avoiding the teaching profession. i've written an article about all these. when you look at young black educated,are college teaching is exit the number one profession. why the less than 2%? that is because we are only 5.5% of the population and about 5.5% only 17% have at least a thoseor degree and among

who go on to get a degree in education, and this is a little known fact, black males are more to be than any other race promoted out of the classroom into the administration. nine, black men are underrepresented in higher education. 12.7 millions black men who are 18 years and older and we make up 5.5% of the adult population and 5% of those who are in college. underrepresented in the most competitive colleges. those colleges with selective havesion criteria underrepresentation of black students and those that have opened admission criteria like community colleges have an over representation of black students. that is largely because of a law of the factors that the students

talk about earlier, especially a way who said she was advised to go to committee college when she clearly has the academic credentials to go to michigan state. finally, black men are dying breed. one of the things we have to understand is that when we are toa nation that only refers the terms of breed and endangered and species, for black men and animals, that is a problem. andact, black men increasing representation in the population. our numbers are growing. males, the numbers are decreasing. that does not mean either one is in danger, but when all we are doing is using these types of terms to deal with humans, then

we are dehumanizing them. summary of about 10 articles i have written. the more important thing that i have witnessed are from the young black males themselves. earlier.a few quotes one by -- i want to close by reading a passage from a young who was in the audience of teacher some notes are in the q&a portion and i asked him to because they nose were so profound. this is what he said. he said there is no polite way to be rude. been oppressed and oppressed people have been labeled. and you imagine a marginalized person, think of a box with a label placed on top.

those inside the box can close it if they internalize the oppression. those who did not internalize the oppression can try to break free. will you let them? will you help? theird so that mental and types that most people don't reckon as how biased there are. the bias has become a habit that the fun today are. if you're trying to help people who have been oppressed, you yourself have to detox biased judgment from your mind. trying to help someone who has been marginalized when you have biases if i try to walk in the fog with blurry vision. clear your vision because you can't lead a person wasn't blinded by a box when you are wearing blindfold. the change begins with yourself. you have to be willing to put in time, perseverance, and do resilient to really realize the compassion. if you love what you are doing, respect the people you help, you

will do extra because helping no longer feels like work. that is when you are living the changes. let the people you are helping to the point where you don't need to be paid. [applause] the most important thing that a ischer can do for a student to help him or her discover things that they can do well. things that they are good at. our schoolsn times become the environment where students learn what they are bad at. they learn that they are bad testtakers. they learn their slow readers. that they are not match people. h people.eason -- mat

but the reason the schools have become incubators of teaching students what they are bad at has nothing to do with the student, but has everything to revelations that we received through bs. and by bs i mean bad stats. [laughter] in the low expectations that live -- drive the biases. point.at in historic i learned this from jackie. the american teachers association, which was a predominantly lack teachers union merged with -- black unionrs in merged with -- merged with nea. it opened up the door for other race and ethnic group. today, nea stansberry strong with 3 million teachers -- stands very strong with three my

teachers serving 90% of the students. students,dents, black hispanic students, latina, asian-americans, native americans, american indians, and all the other students that we represent have a chance, it will be because of the seeds of change in this room. thank you nea for all the work you are doing. thank you for this don't convene -- joint convening and drug the conscience of nea. as long as i'm working in the space, i will be there to both give research to support your work and challenge you like a true friend would. thank you. [applause] dr. ivory tolson!

give it up! [applause] wow! amazing, amazing. thank you. i took notes. it will be on the test. >> this weekend on c-span city tour, along with our comcast cable partners, we will explain the history and literary life of provo, utah. we will go to a proprietor who has been collecting rare books. he showcases brigham young's copy of the book of mormon. and thomas payne's common sense. >> wanted to have this printed and he wanted the proceeds to the soldiers mittens.

after what do you printed, they had a -- after it was rented three times, -- printed three times, they had a falling out. >> and the author of a peculiar people talks about anti-mormonism in america since it founding in 1830's through their current struggles as a religious minority. >> they fit awkwardly in that because they are a minority, but their religious minority to overtime have figured in disproportionately ways in the debate about religion. >> and take a tour of the brigham young diversity of paleontology into the dinosaur fossils collected by the curator of the museum and how the apostles were gathered and how dr. jensen change the way fossils and bones are displayed.

supports, theel animal looks more alive. in the sense that you get the feeling that these are bones but it brings life to the bones. >> and a professor of history at brigham young university tells how mormon pioneers first settled salt lake city and began setting up satellite communities and 33 mormon families settled provo. this weekend, watch c-span's city tour. the c-span city tour working without table affiliate in visiting cities across the country. >> the hard-fought 2016 primary season is over with historic

conventions to follow the summer. >> colorado, florida, texas, ohio. delegates-span as the consider the nomination of the first woman ever has had a major political party and the first non-politician and several decades. watch live on c-span. listen on the c-span radio app orchid video-on-demand. you have a front row seat of every minute of the conventions. all beginning on monday, july 18. our next guest this morning is from cincinnati. he is ken blackwell, senior fellow of the family research council and former elected official in the state of ohio, mayor of cincinnati and treasurer and secretary of state for ohio. good morning. guest: good morning. good to be with you. host: thank you for joining us. the reason we ask