us. so madam chair, prayerfully, as ou began -- as our chaplain egan, prayerfully i close my remarks, assuring for whatever it's worth, there's many that this body and respect the american people have had a the family because of so many people who have lost ones and we have all lost. prayerfully, i yield back the b b [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] >> the house rules committee is about to meet on a $900 billion economic aid package that is part of a 2021 federal spending bill. the total cost of the two measures is $2.3 trillion. once it's approved by the rules committee, it will go to the house floor today for a vote it. needs to pass both the house and the senate. reminder the government funding is set to expire at midnight eastern today. we'll have live house coverage

when members return here on c-span and of course watch the senate on c-span2. urnalist joe but duringmorrow us today, author and seen in political analyst on his book my vanishing country: a memoir. thanks for joining us on the program today. guest: good morning and happy holidays to everyone watching today. host: what do you mean by that and where did you get that perspective? guest: thank you for asking the question, thank you for having me. it is twofold for me. i'm from a big city in south carolina where we have three stoplights. my mom and dad would always tell me the two most important words in the english language were the words thank you, so i want to begin by thanking you and all of your listeners and viewers today. but this poor town that i grew up in is now a food desert where you can't go and get access to fresh fruits and vegetables. the small businesses which are

the backbone of this country, which were once flourishing are no longer there, not getting the support from the government like they used to. it is a city where kids go to school and their heating and air don't work. 90's, they began to see manufacturing plants changing and moving and picking up to go overseas. and so the rural areas that we once knew to be vibrant, it was a decently well-off small town because it had railroad tracks that went both ways, it was very rare to have railroad tracks that went north, south, east and west. these small towns that were the backbone of our country, that have the hustle and bustle are now banishing before our eyes. that is one portion of the title. the other part is from a very 50,000 foot view. when you are talking about the

ideals of this country, things like love, truth, justice, peace, things that young folks tend to believe to be more tangible than some of our older citizens. those ideals are vanishing as well. empathy are vanishing. challenge.of a the meaning is twofold. but i believe that in the 240 pages i was able to clearly articulate both the challenge of a vanishing country and the perseverance that we all have. host: you start talking about your father, an event that happened to him. can you describe that? guest: most people don't know about it, which is the largest tragedy. a lot of people know about jackson state, but not many people know about south carolina state.

my father was a member of the student coordinating committee. he served under both coordinating committees. 1968, the students at south carolina college --anized a protest of it all of an all-white bowling alley. the students that day, they went down and protested. the police ended up coming, state troopers ended up beating many of the students witwith leather, rawhide whips. students had to go back to the campus to heal their mental and physical wounds. and then came february 8, that fateful day were students came back and protested, this time when state troopers came and they went back to their campus, they built this huge bonfire.

and build a huge bonfire the state troopers wound up along the embankment below the campus and for eight seconds, they fired shots into students, and killed three. they wounded 28. night,er was shot that and was arrested as well. he was charged with five felony counts, looking at a maximum 75 years in prison. his bond was denied. fired shots who into the group of students were tried and they were all found not guilty. i father subsequently went to from february 8 to february 6 and he was charged, tried and convicted of rioting. somewhat jokingly the with a great deal of sincerity that at the same time, he became the first one-man riot in the history of this country. night, justice left the pages of my state's and it

left my sister born without her father. she was born while my father was serving his sentence. host: as a result of that experience, in your book you describe yourself as a child of the civil rights movement even though you were born well after that. how do you make that connection? guest: it's an easy connection to make. my father, growing up in this "it takes a village nash,se a child," diane we learned from them, we looked up to those individuals who paid the last full measure of devotion. the henry smithd samuel henrs, and governor middletons. my father nearly paid the ultimate sacrifice, but gave up so much. theother was a part of

first integrating class of hamilton high school in memphis, tennessee. i am a child of that movement, i am someone who grew up understanding the price that was paid. understanding and being able to look at your hero every day the kitchen is something that i recognize. i stand on his shoulders and so many more. host: if you want to ask questions about his book, his father, the things he writes about, you can do so. (202) 748-8000 eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 mountain and pacific time zones. you can also text us and post on our facebook page and twitter feed as well. our guest also serve as a scene in political analyst and was a former south carolina state representative. when did that happen? guest: that happened relatively one. i always joke that i am the best state legislator. i am retired now. i got elected when i was 21

years old to the south carolina state house of representatives. june 13, 2006. it was 21 years old. i beat the 26 year incumbent who was 82 years old. i ended up serving for eight years in south carolina state, the best experience i've ever had in my life. i gave up my house he to run for lieutenant governor, the youngest nominee of the state party. i was the democratic nominee for lieutenant governor back when we ran separately. i was defeated by henry mcmaster. 42% of the vote. experience,amazing and just for the record so everyone knows, henry won fair and square, we don't need to recount that at all. i'm not filing lawsuits over that one. it was a great experience to serve. i tell people lebron james is

he and i had the coolest jobs of any 22, 23-year-old in the world. host: when you made that decision to run, you got a reaction from your mom and your dad. guest: when i came downstairs and told my mom and dad i was going to run for the house of representatives, my mom said she would vote for me, of course. my dad said he would think about it. i knew i had a long way to go. we knocked on over 2600 doors in my district. i know people watching might say 2600 doors, that is not a lot. but in the rural south, you knock on a door, drive one mile, and knock on another door. experiencescinating of learning about politics, learning how to run, learning how to win and making history along the way. host: part of your book you talk about your challenges with what you learn from your father and his experience. challenge is broader than that of my dad's generation. they wanted to empower their

communities economically, politically, and socially but they also wanted to sit at the same lunch counters, drink from the same fountains and go to the same schools. i want to atone for slavery, for jim crow, for the industrial complex, and for the ambivalence where there is violence against unarmed black man. can you go from there? i, and manyther and people in his generation when we have these conversations, we have the benefit of hindsight, i recognize that. power,re chanting black it was a purifying phrase that sent ripple effects through many throughout the south. they weren't talking about any type of black violence, they were talking about black sustainability, they were talking about self sustainability, they were talking about building up economic power in their communities, political power in their communities. and so when i look at some of the things they were doing and

how equal access to accommodations was somewhat of the endgame for them, i look at the challenges we face today, and what i always tell people is that if that movement had not ended, that movement had simply continued, and someone morphed into the new challenges we face today. whether or not we are talking about breonna taylor or george floyd, tamir rice, the list goes on and on. whether or not we are talking about the systems of oppression, because i really don't get caught up in people calling me the n word because that happens, i don't get caught up in the ignorance that sometimes envelops our discussion, but i am caught up in trying to deconstruct the systems of oppression. not just the criminal justice system, but the environmental injustice where you have hundreds of students and cities in the nation states -- in the united states, that don't have water.

these educational injustices where kids go to school and they are punished because of where they were born into. those are the challenges of the day. i don't want anyone to think that the generation before us, their efforts were in vain. by no means. however, those challenges, those generational challenges have changed and we have to be ready to stand up to those today. host: so the best avenue to make those changes, is it political, from your experience and what you talk about on capitol hill? guest: no, it's not one or the other, it is both. it is not either/or. i tell people that we need protesters in the streets, we need those individuals who are pushing and applying pressure from the outside. we need those civil rights organizations who are putting pressure and applying pressure on our elected officials, and then we need people like myself and try to go in and change the system from within. we need young people who have a vision for reimagining what this

country should be. it is a both. we need people from the inside of the system applying pressure and we need people externally, even if you are just sitting at home dialing from washington, d.c. or even if you're a part of a sorority or the naacp or whatever it may be. both of those things are required to reimagine what this country should be. host: we have because lined up for you. the author of is "my vanishing country." ci is in north carolina, democrat line. go ahead. caller: hi, thank you for sharing your story, it is so very interesting. i can remember back in the 60's, the civil rights movement, the freedom riders. my grandma said get down, grow, there is going to be shooting in the town today. we were so scared, we didn't know. we had robert williams, the

activist, we grew up on the same street with him. fascinating, the things we've seen in this country. but it is getting better, like you said. there is a long way to go, but your story is so interesting. i can't wait to get your book. thank you so much. guest: well thank you so much. people like robert in so many we madei tell you this, a lot of progress in this country. anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar. i think the challenges we still have are a ways to go, so that is on my generation, on the generation coming behind us, to make sure that we are dedicated and applying the same pressure and dedicating yourself to the same causes that a lot of these heroes, they don't write about it. that is one of these reasons i love this book. teachers usually don't teach us about the other names that when you peel back the layers of the onions, you

see that they are just as important as anyone else. i want to give those individuals a voice. you may recognize some names in the book. thank you for your support, and god bless you. host: give us examples of some of those names. guest: i talk a lot about julian bond. julian is one of my heroes. talked some about jubilee jackson. a name who is not that well known, who was assassinated in the movement. i talk about the role of women, particularly ella baker, the role in my father's life. we don't just talk about the individuals who the history books to just elementary school. we dig a little deeper when it comes to those heroes. emma mccain, for example. we talk about all of these individuals who just played a role in my life, my father's life.

emmett's mother, who had the audacity to see what happened to her son by having an open costed when he was -- open casket when he was brutally lynched. hopefully people will be able to share their stories and give them voice as well. host: you talk about when the phone would ring at home and you would refer to them as uncles and aunts when they would call the house. guest: uncle julian, uncle marion. those were our family. when you were a part of this i spoke to bernius you are just a part of this network of individuals who some paid the ultimate sacrifice. to see bernice, with so many people whitewashing her father's legacy, to still remain true and

still lift him up in his revolutionary truth, i talk about that in the book as well. it is a powerful thing to see. i had a collection of uncles and aunties who helped raise me, who were part of that village it takes to raise a child. host: new jersey, this is don, independent line. sellers, do, mr. you know a lot of white people? we basically have the same kind of struggles. for you to keep on -- i mean, it is nice that black people have their own particular take on what the struggle is all about, but believe me, brother, it is happening all over. yeah, i've got a few white friends. i know a lot of white folks. i understand the struggles of many others. in fact, i think the country has

been asking for empathy. one of the things i try to do is empathize. i think when we talk about the stories of being rural or we talk about the stories of being working-class, we only refer to white people in this country when we are having those conversations. most of that is not our fault, most of that is attributed to the media and have a separate us through those labels. what i tend to do is raise the voices of the people of color in this country who i know to be both rural and working-class, and give them a voice. it is a voice that has not been heard that often. i hope you don't take offense to me sharing the struggles and toils of someone else. and while there is a hillbilly elegy, there is a "my vanishing country" to tell the story of a black working-class. i don't have any shame, i don't make any apologies for raising that voice and lighting that candle and shedding light on the struggles of people of color in this country. i think then and only then will we be able to learn from each other and be able to have that

level of empathy that is wired for us to get out of the ditch together. host: missouri, good morning. st. louis, missouri, joran. -- you are on. caller: this is what i'm calling about. theew up in st. louis in 50's in the 60's. i grew up in an all black community. andnt to all black schools, i think integration was the worst thing. we had a real good black community in south st. louis and north st. louis with strong teachers and everything. we had control at our kids back then. once we started integrating, everything seemed to change. i can see integrating maybe for jobs, but socially, no. it was a very strange experience. in our own black communities, we had control of our kids and everything. we didn't have anybody telling

us how to discipline our kids or anything. that is what i wanted to be said. thank you. guest: that is a unique proposition that many people do raise. one that says that maybe the goal of the movement should have been to ensure that you had the resources necessary in your own community and integration would have come eventually. but again, that the benefit of hindsight. when we are talking about brown v. board of education, chief justice warren had a unanimous opinion in which he held that segregation causes a system of inferiority in children and environments not conducive to learning. and you think about that separate but equal, you realize that chief justice warren was very true in that voting and actually calling and holding together a rare nine-zero opinion in the united states supreme court. i hear you, i understand what you're saying. but i do believe that the benefits of integration, and we

see that, especially through the judicial system and a lot of the legal proceedings emanating from that, have benefited our community greatly. is there a question that we lost some of the things? of course. but the resources that we gained were necessary at the time. host: when you were talking earlier you said that we had made progress, but we still have a way to go. are the progress we have made so far, and where do we have to go? guest: the example of progress of the representative democracy that we begin to see. people like barack obama, the ,umber of elected officials come alaris, seeing the confederate flags come down in south carolina. although that took the deaths of nine individuals. a lot of the change we've seen in this country has come because of blood that has flown in the streets.

you start to see some of the things that occurred. when you still look at things like access to quality care or you look at the fact that college has become not an opportunity, but a luxury for many, recently look at this pandemic. this pandemic has ripped the band-aid off the ugly face of any quality we have in this country and anybody wants to debate that, we can. how black andee brown communities in this country are struggling and when you overlay it with the pandemic, it is no wonder you have black folks who are dying at a higher rate. you have black and brown and native american small businesses which are shutting down at higher rates. these veryve tangible inequities in our community. i haven't even gone into the very sensationalized, the very real struggle we have in our criminal justice system.

i mean, look. i'm friends with tim scott. i say that often. he is one of the 101 most powerful men in the world. you have to acknowledge that. and i do. but to say that is enough, i think that is just silly. from this is anne louisiana, you're next. caller: good morning. how are you? guest: is a pleasure, good morning. caller: you did wonderful, yes. heralding from the south, louisiana, as you may be aware, we are one of the topmost impoverished states of all of the states and then, of course, there are very antiquated ideas and things of that nature relative to color and race. i'm sure you're familiar. but relative to something that you mentioned earlier, relative to your father and the bonfire

and on the campus, i wanted to ask you, was he the only one of the protesters who was arrested, tried and can did? i know you made that comment speaking,, jovially that he was kind of the one-man protester that you know of. i just want to know, brothers arrested? if not, -- were others arrested? and if not, why did not that occur? the things you're trying to do along that path is amazing. my father was the only protester arrested. i really don't think any of the protesters should have been arrested, but he was the only protester arrested. one of 27, 28 wounded.

three of the young men who were shot were killed. none were over the age of 19. henry smith. it was the first time in this country's history that federal civil rights charges were brought against law enforcement for killing unarmed lack folks. and i guess that is a step in the right direction. although none of them were convicted. they did convict my father and many of the history books consider my father to be a scapegoat for the events of that night. it was just tragedy all around. was actuallyir being considered in february and in 1968, he was being considered for vice president at the time and because of the incident, many folks attribute that uprising and the riots or whatever they wanted to call it

to be the reason that he wasn't chosen. 1968 was a fascinating year. boom 1968 calls it because of many of our military men and women coming home being treated like second-class citizens. you had the assassination of king and the assassination of kennedy. it is kind of wild. 2020 is somewhat of a conversion from 1918, 1919. the flu pandemic. 1928, 1920 nine, the recession and depression. 1968, the racial reckoning. this is a fascinating year to be alive and we just have to be grateful that we made it through. host: when your father talk to you about the events that happened to him in orangeburg,

what were the lessons you learn from that? guest: it is tough because i find myself to be angrier about that night and the injustice of that night and even he is. the area tangibly, my father is someone who always told me, when i have my friends who are in black lives matter or organizers across the country, he is the one to pick up the phone and be like because such and such and tell him to stop protesting at night. he would always admonish young folks from protesting at night. he says people do under the cover of darkness with a would not otherwise do it during the light. you just learned that people at that time were willing to speak out and speak out for what they believed in. you've got remember that this all started because they wanted access to a bowling alley. but it was more than the bowling alley. it was young folks raising their voices. my father was actually there to help start teaching these africanism classes at south

carolina state. thehing individuals about history of the african-american and black experience. and he got caught up in what was a massacre. for some very grateful who wrote this book and continue to tell the story. and natalie if jack are watching this morning, but we are very grateful for them remaining steadfast. book is called's "my vanishing country." it is bakari sellers joining us for this conversation. he also is a former south carolina state representative, and has run in politics. what was your first time running for politics, and can you tell us a story about an attempt you made? guest: i actually ran for sga president. i'm a firm believer that if you have young folks and your

families and households who may not be watching this morning but will be joining you for christmas or spending time with them or even you talk to them on the phone, make sure they get involved in the process. even if it is middle school student council or college sga. i was the class president in college and i decided i was going to run for student government association president, which was a heck of a race. i had to run four times because my -- this is going to sound insane -- the first time i ran, they actually throughout the race and throughout all of the outs -- thrwe out -- threw all of the votes because they did not open at 7:00, they opened at 7:30. i write about how complete the dumbfound that i was. equalaid he created disadvantage for everyone. which makes absolutely no sense. and so they threw those votes out. i won that race. and then we had a parent

complaint. sounds a lot like today. and then i went out and won the race again. so not once, not twice, not three times, but four times. i ran against some brilliant folks. a great comedian and writer right now. attorney fors people like botham jean, ahmaud arbery. i ran against some fascinating, strong brothers who are still contributing to society today. host: jeffrey in montana for our guest. jeffrey, good morning. caller: good morning morning, thank you. so i was wondering if you are familiar with the term hyphenated americans. apparently not. this is a term apparently coined during the first world war to

designate those americans who were overly conscious of their ethnic origins. for former president theodore roosevelt and president woodrow wilson, a hyphenated american was no patriot. part,w wilson said for my i think the most un-american thing in the world say--- is a hyphen. he said i don't care what comes before the word american. he said it doesn't make any difference what comes before american. every man who comes to take iunsel with me with a hyphen, take no interest in. my point, there are no african-americans. there are only americans of african descent. my ancestor is european, but i am not a european-american, i am first and foremost an american. so if you want to continue to divide us, keep doing that. host: you made that point. guest: i would love to ask him

what part of europe he was from or how he got here. it was hard to hear, that's why i wasn't being too responsive, there was something going on in the background. host: some interference in the background, yet. guest: i appreciate the comment, i appreciate the history lesson, but i'm not going to -- i find that often times, people confuse prejudice with patriotism, which is what just happened. you cannot question the patriotism of someone else for appreciating from where they come. and i think that understanding that there is an entire culture of individuals who were enslaved and in bondage, lived through slavery, oppression which we lay out in this book, lived through jim crow, to question their patriotism of those individuals is more divisive than anything.

that i find say individuals like my father, i find individuals like emmett patriotic thane you probably will ever be. a lot of these individuals, they gave what lincoln called, since we are quoting old presidents, a last full measure of devotion. i think it is important that we recognize the struggles of everyone, and we have empathy which is why i wrote this book. i understand your point about us all being americans, and i am proud to be an american. i am proud to understand that this country is the greatest country in the entire world. i am also so proud of this country and find myself to be a true patriot because i push this country every day to live up to it from us and to be better than it was. i think that is a challenge that because i am an american, because the blood of my family

literally runs in the soil of this great place, my grandfather was in the military. my father was in the civil rights movement. you become no greater patriot than those things. so with all due respect to the history lesson that you gave this morning, i would ask that you check your prejudice that you are equating with patriotism, and we try to begin to have some level of empathy so we understand the plight of us all. the greatest thing that makes us americans is not diversity. -- is our diversity. what that means is that you have your european background, my family coming in from the west coast of africa, individuals who come from the north and individuals who come from the south, all of us come to this great country to make a more perfect union. i am not going to allow you or anyone else to question the patriotism of someone else simply because they want to recognize from whence they come. host: talk about your relationship with president

obama. a coolwe have relationship. two weeks ago i had the opportunity to sit down with him and have a podcast. myself and bill simmons sat down with the president for an hour. the first time i've seen him since 2017. believe he gave his last speech as president of the united states, we were in chicago. inas one of the first people south carolina to endorse and to be president. i was 22, i think when i endorsed him. he was another tall, skinny guy with a funny name. it was an amazing experience. i became pretty close and will tell you this, that my final two choices to be president of the united states or to endorse to be president of the united states for john edwards and barack obama at that time in 2008.

i remember him coming to my district, we had a huge event in january of 2008, right before the south carolina primary, and it was myself and kerry washington, chris tucker. we all know him from "rush hour." usher raymond, and barack obama. we just tore that place down, it was such a fascinating experience. he went on to win south carolina and the rest is history. he is such a fascinating human being. i always will tell him, though, it is kind of weird that he is probably the fourth most fascinating person in his own family. behind michelle, saw shane and malea.-- sasha and host: here is what you wrote about him in the book. you said barack obama was way too cautious and continued on by saying the thorniest issue for

mr. obama was the black lives matter movement, particularly the police attacks confronting and the white resentment probably attributed to donald trump political victory. a great deal of weight frustration stems from the rise of black lives matter and tepid dissent. if you are going to go in, go all in, because you're going to be blamed for it anyway. guest: even his advisors will tell you that there is always a hesitancy to embrace the 44th president of the united states and his blackness. and the reason is because they would argue that people couldn't see it, that it was more a political thing than a cultural thing. i felt as if there were something that could have been done, especially embracing a movement that was growing which we now know had a 60% were 70%

approval rating. even met is saying black lives matter. and you can have problems with the organization, but i am just talking about the phrase, what it means. going all in. when you try to dance around it, you're going to get crucified for it anyway. defense for individuals like myself wasn't good enough and for individuals on the right, he got blasted anyway. so you might as well say nothing or go all the way in. you can't dance and politics -- in politics and he got caught in between. who, i want to say friend of the 44th president, i admire him. i believe he did great things for this country. if wehink, though, that are honest, as we all should be, on the issue of syria and historically black colleges and universities, i was expecting him to do more, do a better job. that is my humble opinion.

host: what do you think of the incoming president elect when it comes to matters of race and how he has to deal with these issues? the because he dealt with the issue of criminal justice. guest: he's being pulled in so many directions. i am somebody supports kamala harris in the primaries, but joe biden is the only person who could have won this race. of the 50 people running on the democrat excite, joe biden is the only person who could have one. he is going to have to be pushed and prodded, but we all have to be pushed and prodded. he has the most diverse cabinet in the history of this country. a cabinet that comes with experience. advisors,or familial no big money donors who are in the cabinet. it is a cabinet who has a level of expertise about the issues at hand.

i think that his first challenge, though, while we are in the moment of this racial reckoning, his first challenge dealing with this pandemic. thei think understanding justice aspect that goes along with that, you see that in some of his appointment on the coronavirus task force. he is going to have an uphill battle, but it is going to be one he can overcome. host: bertrand in rhode island, you are on, good morning. caller: good morning. a pleasure to talk with you. one thing i see is vanishing from the country that the founding fathers believed in, science. they were radical in doing so. is over. project it is already established that all human beings share 99.9% of the human dna. don't go running down that .01%. we all are african, we all are out of africa, and what is

vanishing is that e pluribus unum is being ignored. that the founding fathers, who were radicals, by the way, not conservatives, they were radicals, they were for nonbelievers and believers. motto ofs unum, the our country. race is an illusion. there is no such thing. those small genetic differences you followple, if history and science which of founding fathers supported, you would see that race is an illusion. that we all share the seam dna. host: we will leave it there and let our guest respond. rocking with you at the beginning of the phrase we did have founding fathers and believed in science and ironically enough, we now only have one party that believes in science.

i thought that was where you were going, basic things like climate change is real, or wear a mask so you don't get sick and callous all. i thought that is where we were going with that. -- kill us all. ... ais an illusion fascinating yet somewhat intellectually dishonest paradigm, i guess. we probably don't have enough time to explore that. i think that you just have to look at the history of this country and the complicated relationship with the issue of race. this,t have to harp on ,ut we had slavery, jim crow you have even today, the number of unarmed black man who are murdered. you saw george floyd, you saw these things. that -- theg overarching reason, and i'm glad you called, the overarching

reason that we have two embrace this is because diverse thought is why this country is so great. diverse opinion. coming from these various backgrounds is why this country is so fascinating and so great. and i think that we are able to have great conversations when we don't attempt to be intellectually dishonest about lines and we begin to see people for their full and entire being. sayingping on it and not it is worth more than anything else, but at least seeing it and understanding the value of that diversity. i'm somebody who believes that one of this country's greatest values is that of diversity. with the see that mantra of colorblindness. voices in the background, tell us about your family. guest: i was going to apologize when we started that were still in the back. yes, you hear twins. with all due respect, you've got to hear them when we are working from home.

they are 23 months old, they will be two years old january 7. they are excited for christmas. i'm not sure if they are excited when the boxes they come in at this age, but my wife and i were just talking about this morning, hoping that we can bring our children the same joy that our parents brought us on christmas eve. just trying to make sure that all of the family is around, even those who don't have the same opportunities or fortunes. that is what the season is about. you will hear the pitter patter of little feet and you will hear the outburst of future voters in this house, as we call them. 15-year-old, because it is not even 9:00 yet, she still has probably another three hours before she graces us with her presence. host: how do you talk to your 15-year-old about the experiences you have dealt with, especially with your father, and how was she responding to that?

guest: it's crazy. story, it just a had me conflicted. it is one that i did not tell in the book that i will probably tell in the next, but it embodies this entire process that is that during the protests, i daughter got a few of her girlfriends, they put on all black and they put their masks on and they had these signs that were talking about black lives matter, etc. and they went out and protested. during the day, of course. for me, i was so, so proud, but i was conflicted because i also just wanted my daughter to be able to be like baron trump, be a teenager who doesn't have to go out and wear a sign that the basic level of her humanity. and so i'm so proud of her because she is growing up into a strong, strong woman. she recognizes she is a strong

black woman, she recognizes the lineage of that. she reads and she studies. she knows the name of kathleen cleaver, she knows diane nash, she knows ruby bridges. she knows fannie lou, she knows shirley chisholm. she loves hillary clinton. back in 2016 on the campaign trail i was with hillary at an event in ohio, i was able to face time i daughter and have hillary on the phone together. great knows all of these heroes. she cand is her oyster, be anything she wants to be. she told us the other day she wants to go into pediatric dentistry. just watching her navigate that but still have that kind of activist strain that comes from i guess isen or fascinating to watch. host: shall be in georgia for our guest. go ahead. caller: yes, good morning.

thank you so very much to c-span and thank you for having this who i thinkung man, brings a real view of what we are facing right now. this reckoning. i've been reading your book over the past four or five months that we've been having injury reading ande really have the opportunity to have a reflection time which we normally do not have. the attempt to achieve in middle america has been challenged. with that renewed purpose that you talk about. i think that because you are from the south, you are also gifted, educated. now, i thinkight

that you talk about been mark, south carolina -- denmark, south carolina, the institutions there. my family represents that area. i think the promise that you bring this morning, that you can bring to the country is your spitetary, that even in of the anguish, there is still a sense of renewed hope. there is an integration now that i believe young people such as are purpose-driven to create the history that we face. on on the opposite side, january 20, this country will have a new america after this

trump era and hopefully we can come together and joe biden, i agree, was the only person they could bring this -- when this. a white man who had a black experience with a two-term president who has had a long career of service himself. host: we will let our guest respond, thank you for the call. guest: thank you so much, thank you for your prayers and thank you for absolutely everything and lifting me up this morning. i appreciate that so much. that we, even the 10 minutes left in this conversation, got to this point were we can talk about what this country should be. that's what i talk about in the book as well, we imagine what this country is. i tell people all the time, my twins deserve to grow up in a country that is better than the one we inherit. young people are always at the forefront of every ounce of change we have ever had in these united states of america. whether that is a civil rights,

women's rights, gay rights, it doesn't matter. young people have always led the charges. it is kind of fascinating to see when you talk about gun reform in this country, who is that charge led by? just recently we memorialized and remembered the anniversary of the sandy hook shooting. i was someone who said that if you kill 26 citizens in this country and we don't have any gun reform, it's never going to happen. jaded bywas just being reality. the young kid at parkland, a bunch of teenagers got together and have been able to push at least the edge of common sense gun reform. i just feel like the country that we want to see, i'm always somebody tells polk that got to reimagine. as we deconstruct the systems of oppression, as we move away from systems that don't work, let's reimagine what this country is

and what it should be. it is the greatest country in the world. that doesn't mean that we can reimagine what it should be in the future, and that's what i try to do in this book. host: since we are running short on time, i want to address one chapter of the book that you write about and you write it under the title anxiety: a black man's superpower. guest: one of my favorite chapters. especially for black folks, particularly black men, mental health is an issue that really doesn't get talked about that much. wanted to say i have a beautiful family and a great job, but i still struggle with anxiety, a generalized anxiety disorder. and so my talking about it, by saying that you've got to get there, you've got to get counseling, you've got to be able to have these real conversations with folks about these issues, not just your barber. that is going to create a healthier environment. we've people know that

got to be healthy, mentally healthy. especially going through this. if people don't have some level of anxiety living through this to come out of this emotionally, mentally, physically, stronger than they went in. that chapter was very special to me because i talked about the very real moment that i go through and that lineage of trauma. some of the issues my mom went through and the issues i go through, and my trigger points. when you write a memoir, you've just got to be 100% honest and that is what i continue to do throughout this book. host: it bit of breaking news well you are speaking, the u.s. capitol, a statue of general robert e lee was removed from the capital building and virginia's governor is saying the state is going to have to seek to replace the statue with barbara johns. guest: that is an amazing

moment. shout out to the washington journal this morning for breaking news as we go. me, i am someone who will appreciate individuals who are on the forefront of doing things like maybe taking down a confederate flag in south carolina. for others, it may be taking down robert e lee. always felt that taking down statues is not the end-all be-all for me. that is not my thing. for who it is, that is fine. i don't want to just take down the statues and i don't want to -- we have got black lives matter painted on all the streets. i did it, that is beautiful. but i want substantive policy change. this is great, this is fine, but i also want to see some politic changes that improve the quality

of all of those in this country. that theseake sure representational, performative type changes are also a company by policy changes. host: just a few more minutes with our guest. donna in westerville, ohio, go ahead. appreciate, i really the way you talk. i'm a white woman. i lived in a white neighborhood in ohio. it was working class he returned black. i went to a southern college after high school and had a handicap son. we had to fight for the rights of the handicapped and the blacks because they have

different challenges. there are prejudices. host: ok, we will take your thought, we will let our guest respond to that. guest: thank you for your activism. i always tell people that we don't all have the same struggle, but we cannot be selfish in our struggle. and so for me, while i may be out protesting or whatever it may be, i can't forget about protesting for your family, i can't forget about acting up people like your son. those individuals who have some disabilities. you have to begin to understand that we are all in this together. so i can't be so focused, i can't be so narrowminded or focused on what is going on in my life. i also have to hear your voice and to hear the pain in your voice.

because i don't understand every issue that goes on in different communities. but i have to be willing to read, learn, listen. understand, empathize. and then go out and lift your family up as well. i tell that the folks all the time. i'm not someone who is just focused on improving the plight of black folks or rural folks. i want to improve the plight of us all. i want to share my story so that you understand it. i want to share my story so i can get more people on the battlefield, lifting up the voices of people from eric and unity. but just know that when you are going through something, or your family is going through something, i have a fire in me, too. that is what makes this country so great. i think sometimes we miss that, even in some of the questions i've gotten this morning, people missed that. book, i don'this want to just have people focused on me. i don't want to have people just focused on one thing in particular.

but i do want that to be able to open their horizons. i want them to be able to say that, at the end of the day, we can all get there. but we are going to get there together and it takes all of us, shoulder to shoulder, to do that. host: rhonda in sacramento, i apologize, we are going to have to jump in really fast. go ahead. caller: it is an honor to speak with you. could you please address our black youth today who have no sense of identity or direction and to look toward wrappers as their heroes -- rappers as their heroes? i am looking forward to reading your memoir, your perspective on the color of our youth who are disenfranchised and just lost. host: thank you, we will have to leave it there. i apologize. guest: i will be quick. not going to i'm knock anybody for living up to a rapper or athlete or whoever may

be their hero. but i will say that we have to do a better job. people of my generation, the generations above, of being examples. one of the things i try to do is go back to my community often a just talk to kids. night i talked to million people. on a channel where we have 3300. i try to let them know that i am do thesecal, they can things, too. the more examples they have, the less they have to look up to people who maybe don't have as much. host: as far as you talk about the idea of writing another book, do you have an idea of what you're going to be working on? guest: ironically enough, january of 2022i have a children's book coming out. i've been waiting to do this for so long. i don't even know if i'm supposed to tell you, but whatever. it entitled "who are your people?"

it talks about wherever you are from, just giving kids a sense of where you are from. and that i have another adult book coming out in 2022. political things, the issues of race, especially as we seen in this year, 2020 involving so much. due to bet is not turned in until may, so we still have some time with that. but i'm excited. i never thought i would be an author, i never thought i would be sitting here on washington journal, but i am thankful for your support, all of the callers, from idaho to rhode island to sacramento, the democratic line, republican line, independent line. i am just happy that people take time to talk to a kid from south carolina. i'm so grateful for this moment and this opportunity. host: bakari

>> we are wait for the u.s. house to gavel back in. the house and nat reached a deal on a $900 billion economic aid package that will be part of the federal spending bill. the combined package is $2.3 trillion, and you can read it on our website, c span.org. government funding is set to expire tonight at midnight eastern. we'll have the house when they gavel back in here. watch the senate on c-span2. vice president-elect kamala harris spoke in georgia on ehalf of jon ossoff and rafael warnock, campaigns ahead of the runoff election. please welcome reverend warnock, candidate for u.s. senate. ♪