judy: i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, as russia moves towards the east in ukraine, we sit down with the ukrainian foreign minister to explore the profound resilience of the ukrainian people. then, with new figures showing inflation at a historic high, a report on why some corporations are reporting record profits. >> what we're seeing in this moment is really when that profit maximization and opportunity collide. and the opportunity is the cer of inflation. judy: and, 91-year old artist faith ringgold, who fought for change in the art world, is celebrated with an exhibition of her work at the new museum in new york. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪

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>> the john s and james l knight foundation, fostering engaged communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: we have two major stories tonight. the russians are concentrating more of their forces in the

south and the east in ukraine. we will have more on that in a moment. but first, here at home, inflation numbers released today by the u.s. labor department show prices up in nearly every consumer category, but especially energy costs. president biden traveled to the midwest to explain how his administration is going to try to help ease the pain at the pump for americans. soaring inflation, fueled by record-high gas prices, brought presidenbiden to the heartland today. speaking in menlo, iowa, he told americans he gets the economic pain they're feeling. >> i am doing everything in my power by executive order to bring down the prices. judy: the president left washington this morning, hours after the labor department released its monthly price report, painting a bleak picture. in march, inflation was up 8.5% from a year ago. that's the sharpest increase since 1981.

it's felt across the economy. at the grocery store, where the cost of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs is up 14%, and dairy products up 7%. clothing prices are also up 7%. and at the gas station, a stunning 48% increase in the past year. >> on june 1, it won't show up -- you won't show up at the gas station and see a bag over the pump that has the cheapest asked. ju: the president focused today on energy, announcing that his administration would allow the sale of gas made with 15% ethanol from june to september. the cheaper blend of gasoline, known as e-15, is usually banned the summer, when driving rates peak, to prevent air pollution. >> even if it is an extra buck or two in their pockets when

they fill up will make a difference. judy: today, the president argued rising costs, made worse by russia's invasion of ukraine, call for emergency action. >> we need to address this challenge with an urgency it demands. judy: the administration predicts that the use of e-15 this summer could save drivers 10 cents per gallon of gas. it remains to be seen how much this move, combined with the release of millions of barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve, will blunt inflation's costly rise. to help explain what's behind the numbers, i'm joined by david wessel. he's the director of the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy at the brookings institution. david, welcome back to the newshour. you have been digging into this report into these numbers. tell us what you see beyond, we know the headline is in elation prices are way up. what do you see? >> definitely prices are way up and definitely energy prices are

one, but not the only driver of this. there is no denying that inflation is uncomfortably high but there was a glimmer of hope in these numbers. hope that the pace of inflation is cooling off. energy prices are a bit down from their peak, so this could be the worst reading for this episode. the price of goods fell. goods prices have been up a lot in part because people who were not going to the movie theater or traveling were buying a lot of stuff, but that is starting to ease. it is a sign that kinks in the supply chain may be easing. economists like to look at the underlying pace of inflation, excluding food and energy. that measure rose less in march than any of the previous five months. a sign that may be the worst is behind us. judy: everyone would welcome that. by goods, you mean anything manufactured, from refrigerators to clothing, anything people are

buying? >> yes. used car which are up a lot, more than 35% over year ago levels, fell nearly 40 -- nearly 4% in march. judy: we see prices going up overall. what are the things driving it? we know the supply chain you just referred to, but what else can we point the finger at? >> basically the reason we have so much inflation is there is a lot of demand in the economy, and the supply side has not been able to adjust for that. one reason we have so much demand is that we had a very big fiscal stimulus in the american rescue plan and that contributed to the demand in the economy. people got a lot of money, they saved it and they have been spending it. on the supply side, we have a couple things going on. there is kinks in the supply chain, shortages of semiconductors that are affecting car producers producing new cars.

obviously the russian invasion of ukraine has driven up energy prices. also, the supply of workers has en constrained. there are a couple million people who were in the labor force that haven't come back after the pandemic. there is a lot of demand and not enough supply and that is causing prices to go up. judy: given all of this, how much can president biden or any of our policymakers, the federal reserve, how much difference can they make in taking the edge off of this? >> i think taking the edge off is a good phrase. i think people who drive a lot will appreciate the fact that president biden has done something the white house is right, will save $.10 off the price of gasoline. the president can't do very much. he is doing a lot of things because he knows eight days politically important to look like he is doing something, but i don't think anything will add up to much.

one thing they could do but are luctant to do is repeal the trump tariffs that are raising the price of imports to the united states. this is largely going to fall, as it does come on the federal reserve. the federal reserve will raise interest rates a lot this year in the hopes of making it harder for people and busesses to borrow and for them to demand less in goods and fewer services in the hopes that will help equilibriate the economy. judy: people are bracing for higher interest rates. when president biden points to vladimir putin and says so much of this is his fault, how much of that is accurate? >> there is something to that, but basically we had an inflation problem before russia invaded ukraine. we had too much demand in the economy, we had all the supply problems related to covid or other things that had nothing to do with putin's of ukraine.

on top of that we have the surge in oil prices and gasoline prices, the surge in food prices that are clearly triggered by that. it got started before putin but he is making it worse. gasoline prices were up 18% in march alone and that is almost entirely because of the russian invasion of ukraine. judy: these are sobering numbers. it is really helpful to have this kind of explanation. david, thank you. >> you are welcome. ♪ judy: russia's president vladimir putin said today, his war in ukraine will continue until it has achieved the goals he set forth. and he insisted all was going to plan, despite dogged ukrainian resistance that forced the russians to retreat from an

assault on the capital, kyiv. meantime, ukrainian officials said they are investigating the possible use of a chemical agent against their troops in mariol, where the mayor said today that on thousand people -- 21,000 people have been killed during the ongoing siege. on that trip to iowa this afternoon, president biden had some of his harshest words yet for putin, and tied the war to america's energy crisis. >> your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away. judy: the administration had previously made a point of not labelling russian killings in pcaa crimes." before mr. biden spoke today, but after putin's remarks this morning, special correspondent simon ostrovsky sat down with ukraine's foreign minister, dmytro kulayba, in kyiv. simon: mr. foreign minister,

thank you for agreeing to speak with me. the question that's on everybody's mind is how can the world help ukraine, in your opinion? what hasn't the united states, what hasn't the euro-atlantic alliance done yet in order to support ukraine in its fight in this war with russia? >> well, there are three ways to help ukraine here and now. the first one is to provide ukraine with all necessary weapons. second is to impose the harshest sanctions on russia. third, to provide ukraine with macro-financial assistance that will help us to keep the economy afloat because we are at war. russia is attacking are critical infrastructure. simon: what is the urgency of weapons supplies right now? why do you need these weapons now and not later? >> in the beginning, you hear, no, this is not going to happen. then you hear, ok, we will give you this, but this is it. we cannot give it anything more.

then you break this wall again, and then people tell you, ok, you can get this as much as you need, but you cannot get that because it's too sophisticated, or it's offensive, not defensive. in the end, we get everything, but the time between the initial question that we asked and the moment when we get it is wasted, and the price that we pay is human lives. it is destroyed houses and villages, and the war taking place in ukraine. simon: you said that eventually, ukraine always gets what it asked for, but there's a lapse in time. well, what about those mig jets that poland promised, and nato and the united states blocked? >> two weeks ago, the real message that i was receiving about it was "impossible." two days ago, the message was, we are working on it. and that's just to reinforce my point, that in the end, we get

what we need. we've been looking -- simon: we've been looking at the atrocities that were perpetrated by russia while they occupied areas around kyiv. and it's just horrible, to imagine what's happening in the areas that are still occupied by russia right now. >> it will be much worse. but the situation in mariupol is much worse. the situation in the occupied donbas, in the occupied south, the south of ukraine is also very bad. but after the massacre of bucha, russia of course will try to conceal evidence and traces of its atrocities in the in the currently occupied territories. simon: what do you say to critics who want to see a negotiated solution with russia, who criticize the supply of weapons to ukraine because they believe that it will escalate the conflict? >> well, the perfect case scenario for russia would be disarmed ukraine. ukraine raped, tortured, killed by a russian army, and no one is

coming to help her. and when you hear statements like this, like the one that you mentioned, this is exactly what russia wants to do, wants to have. it's not the west who provides us with weapons, who launched the war. it's not western soldiers who commit crimes and atrocities in ukraine. to provide ukraine with weapons is actually to prevent further escalation. because the stronger we are, the more careful russia will be in launching its next attacks. simon: do you think there is an opportunity for a negotiated settlement? vladimir putin today said that peace talks have reached a dead end. >> i don't think that the deal can be signed now, as we see how russia is unfolding its offensive operation in donbas. i

think the moment for negotiations will be after the end of the battle for donbas, when both sides will understand the prospect of this war. simon: i've heard it said that an energy embargo on russia would end its appetite for war in a matter of months. do you believe that? >> well, within within days, maybe weeks. simon: why are you so confident of that? >> because war needs money. we analyzed russia's revenues. i don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to understand where the money come from, and they all come from oil and gas. all the sanctions that have been imposed today are important, but their true effect will be will -- will be felt in mid-term and long term perspective. if they run out of gas and oil revenues, their economy will be in tatters, and their war

machine will simply stumble. if they see that we are weak, if they see that they -- that we don't have weapons to defend ourselves, of course this they will be tempted to move further, to advance. simon: what's next? let's talk about a peace agreement. is ukraine willing to make territorial concessions to russia in order to achieve a peace settlement? >> no. ukraine will not make territorial concessions to russia in order to achieve peace settlement. i'm copy pasting your question in my answer to avoid any misunderstandings or double interpretations. simon: but surely, i mean, some people watching this program will find it unbelievable, to imagine that ukraine will give no territorial concessions in order to achieve peace, to end the war. they'll say it's not realistic to expect the war to end without some kind of a territoriaconcession. >> i can tell to those people

that since 2014, the recipe that was, the recipe of ending the war that was proposed to us by our partners, including the united states at that time, was, make a concession here and putin will step back. make a concession there, and it will pacify putin. and it never worked. stop looking for excuses, why not to help ukraine? and stand by us to make putin concede. not ukraine. simon: your position seems to be, there's only two ways for this war to end, either ukraine wins or ukraine loses. >> no, no. there is one way for this war to end. it's ukraine wins. everything else is just tactics. simon: mr. foreign minister, thank you for speaking with the news hour. >> my pleasure. judy: among the cities hit

hardest by the russian invasion is harr'kiv, once ukrai's second-largestity. it has suffered relentless shelling, and is devoid of many of its people. but a core remains, some to fight, others with no other choice, and still others trying to save what's left. special correspondent jack hewson and filmmaker ed ram just left harr'kiv, which sits a short drive from russ, and they sent us this look at a resilient city and its people. ♪ >> a refrain to rally the faithful, amid the destruction "the glory and freedom of ukraine has not yet perished," begins ukraine's national anthem. cellist denis karachevtsev plays for an audience of none. here in kharkiv's battered city center, those that remain find solace, and resistance, wherever they can, lifting morale for the shellshocked.

>> this is a message to our people. we have no fear. war is a terrible thing, but we are all trying to do something helpful for each other. >> down the road, a group of volursasoined the war effort by sandbagging a monument of nike, the greek goddess of victory. it honours the declaration of ukrainian independence from the soviet union in 1991, a totem of ukraine's slow de-russification. since independence, ukrainians identifying as ethnic russians has dropped from 22% to 17%. but does this mean ukrainians have a problem with ethnic russians or russian speakers? >> how? we treat each other normally. we understand each other, they understand us in ukrainian, we understand them in russian. we treat each other okay. we never had to insult each other because of russian nationality. we don't do that.

>> despite what peter says, anti-russian sentiment is growing across the country. but in majority russian-speaking kharkiv, it's clear this is not an ethnic conflict. the people of kharkiv share much cultural identity with those across the border, just 20 miles away. for peter, it is not russia or russians that are the problem, it's vladimir putin. >> i want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, this man is a reptile, not a human. during world war ii, the fascists didn't act like he has. take a look how many children have been died. -- have been killed. one moment please. it is very sad to see -- it is very sad to see all of this. >> putin's invasion has only strengthened ukrainian national identity, historian volodymyr masliychuk told me. >> when your house is being bombed, when they take your property from you, when you see

the dead, you start recognising your identity in a different way. >> nikita rozhenko shows us round the remnants of a recently bombed chocolate factory. an ethnic russian, he embodies the shift in thinking that has taken place since thstart of the war. >> i was standing for independent ukraine, but for friendly neighbourship with russia, as well, at that time. later, russian propaganda became cenvasio has done lics a joined th ukrainian army. >> still, i'm ukrainian, but now, nobody wants to be friends with russia anymore. same as me. >> russians, please come here if you dare. we'll send you back in plastic bags. but better do not come here to end this ongoing bull---, and we can move on.

>> sheltering from the violence above, an estimated 15,000 have made a temporary home of the city's subway system. the psychologil strain has been huge, exacerbated by the loss of kinship with whom they once had so much in common. for some, the shock is still sinking in. >> we were like neighbors. i russian-speaking too and no am one could think that all can begin from there i just can't comprehend why our relations have gotten so bad, why he described did to destroy us, a peaceful people, who had to suffer. especially children is suffering. it is painful to see how these people are dying because of person like putin. >> children ke ludmila's son, igor, are growing up with a different understanding of russians, as a dangerous enemy. >> we are just trying to support the kids so they won't see this

mess, have any fear and feel no misfortune, try to lift them up with our fighting spirit and not to lose our hearts. that's the way, isn't it? >> amid the gloom and confusion, the people of kharkiv lift their spirits byhatever means they can. because resilience, now, is also a part of ukraine's evolving sense of identity. for the pbs newshour, i'm jack hewson in kharkiv, ukraine. judy: a reminder that the newshour's coverage of the war in ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz, in for stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. police in new york city say they've identified a man as a person of interest in a shooting

on a subway train this morning. poce are searching for frank james, who they say rented a uhaul van tied to the attack, but it is unclear if he is the suspected gunman. no one is in custody. at least 10 people were shot and 19 others hurt. william brangham filed this report before the nypd announced james as a person of interest. and a warning, some of the images are graphic. william: brooklyn's sunset park subway station turned chaotic this morning, as passengers fled the gunfire. the rampage left smoke in the station, and people wounded on the platform. new york city police commissioner keechant sewell described what happened on the manhattan-bound train. >> an individual on that train donned what appeared to be a gas mask. he then took a canister out of his bag and opened it. the train at that time began to fill with smoke. he then opened fire

striking multiple people on the subway and in the platform. william: sewell said the incident is not being investigated as terrorism at this time, but she also didn't rule anything out. the suspect was described as a 5'5" heavyset black man. this evening, he was still at large. high school freshman john butsikares was riding the subway on the way to school when the shooting began a few train cars down from him. >> it was scary. i didn't know what was happening. it was everyone packed on the train. people were scared. no one knew what happened. william: yahya ibrahim works near the subway, and saw people streaming out of the station after the attack. >> one of them was injured. i believe it was a lady, getting shot right in her leg. a lot of people was coming out from side to side, screaming, yelling, asking for help. william: officials have now increased police presence at transportation hubs from washington, d.c. to connecticut, even though there is no evidence

the suspect was coordinating withthers. early this evening, police reportedly found a u-haul truck they had been searching for in connection with the attack. a bomb squad has been deployed. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. vanessa: president biden stood by remarks he made in iowa that characterized russia's actions in ukraine as genocide. he repeated that sentiment this afternoon, as he was leaving iowa. >> the evidence is mounting. more evidence is coming out. it is a horrible thing that the russians have done in ukraine. vanessa: biden says it will be up to legal experts to make a final determination. in israel, police say an officer shot and killed a palestinian man who stabbed him at a security check early today. it was the latest in a spate of deadly confrontations. israeli forces also confirmed they've arrested 20 suspects across the occupied west bank.

the raids follow attacks in israel that have killed 14 people. more than 6.5 million people in shanghai, china, began venturing outside today after a 2-week covid lockdown. they were allowed to leave their homes and shop for food and medicine, but they were limited to their own neighborhoods. meanwhile, the u.s. consulate in shanghai is sending non-emergency staffers home. officials today cited concerns about how the lockdown is being administered. >> we have moved from authorized departure to ordered departure because of the scale of the covid-19 pandemic, and the restrictions that have been placed by prc authorities on people in shanghai, including our diplomats and their families. vanessa: the chinese foreign ministry charged that washington is using the pandemic to smear and discredit china. britain's prime minister, boris johnson, faces fresh calls to resign after being fined today for violating pandemic

restrictions. it involves office parties during strict covid curbs in 2020 and 2021. johnson's wife and finance minister are also being fined. the prime minier said he intends to stay in office. back in this country, new york state lieutenant governor brian benjamin has resigned after being arrested in a federal corruption investigation. he pleaded not guilty today to taking bribes from a developer to steer grant money to a non-profit group. benjamin was a democratic state senator at the time. >> we also allege that benjamin repeatedly lied cover up the -- to cover up the bribery scheme, including by falsifying campaign forms and misleading city regulators. and we allege that benjamin repeatedly lied on the vetting forms that he filled out before he was appointed lieutenant governor. that's a cover up. vanessa: governor kathy hochul made benjamin her second-in-command last fall,

after she replaced andrew cuomo as governor. still to come on the newshour, a look into how big corporations' profits are keeping up with soaring prices. a nereport finds gains and losses in the state of black america. artist faithinggold's six decades of work is highlighted in a new exhibition. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from wbt a studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: despite rising inflation, major u.s. corporations are reporting record profits, as companies pass rising supply chain costs onto consumers. economics correspondent paul solman explores whether concentrated market power is contributing to inflation. >> inflation, inflation, everybody is talking about it. >> longtime liberal activist

robert reich. >> corporations are raising prices even as they rake in record profits. >> prices at the pump have gone up. let me give you a hint why. >> senator elizabeth warren. >> this isn't about inflation. this is about price gouging. >> this is a charge that pops up in lots of places, even on my twitter feed. so, do the facts justify the outrage? well, you've heard the standard causes of covid inflation. government stimulus money, a tight labor market driving up wages, clogged supply chains, imports anchored offshore. and now, to top it off, russia's invasion of ukraine goosing oil, gas and wheat prices. but if all this explains an inflation rate that's just reached 10% for businesses, the producer price index, how come profits have risen even more? >> over the past year, companies' net margins have risen to record highs and net margins are expected to rise again over the next year.

>> a wall street journal reporter. >> nearly 100 of the biggest u.s. publicly traded companies booked 2021 profit margins that we at least 50% higher than their 2019 levels. >> 2019 was pre-pandemic. the economy solid, inflation low. so why the profit hike? >> the ceo of kroger recently said -- >> a little bit of inflation is good. >> lindsay owens runs a progressive economic think tank that scours the earnings calls corporations hold for stock analysts and investors. like this one, from constellation brands, which sells beer, wine and spirits. >> we're going to look at this on a market-by-market basis, brand-by-brand basis, and we'll take as much pricing as we think the consumer can absorb. >> one of my favorite examples is tyson foods. >> purveyor of one out of every five pounds of beef, chicken and pork sold in the u.s. here's tyson's chief financial officer on their latest quarterly results. >> our pricing actions led to approximately $2.1 billion in

sales and price mix benefits during the quarter, which offset the higher cost of goods sold of $1.6 billion. >> in other words -- >> our pricing is taking into account the cost of raw materials and labor, but more than offsetting it. and that more than offsetting it is that additional profit at they're able to bring in. >> but profits sank when covid hit, say companies le tyson. this is just making up for lost time. nothing but an extreme, short-term business cycle. >> capitalism requires greed to run. >> economist noah smith. >> corporations are always greedy. their greed dial is always set to absolute maximum. and the idea that ameliorating greed would have any effect on inflation is wrong. and i made fun of it by making the following chart. >> smith, a liberal, mocks the idea that newfound greed explains the inflation surge with a tongue-in-cheek "greed index" chart. >> i labeled the rises in inflation as rising greed and

the drops in inflation as falling greed. >> which would imply rising corporate generosity. >> the reason this is a joke is because the big drop in inflation in the 1980's would have to be caused by surges in corporate altruism, the altruism of gordon gekko and the 80s people. >> greed is good. >> yes, that gordon gekko. >> greed works. >> so, back to the original question. if corporate america is no greedier than ever, how come profits ha soared? >> what we're seeing in ts moment is really when that profit maximization and opportunity collide. and the opportunity is the cover of inflation. >> the "opportunity" caused by the pandemic. and when companies like tyson blame higher costs, as their ceo has? >> labor costs have gone up 20%, cattle costs are up 22% and freight is up 32%. we are not asking customers or

the consumer ultimately to pay for our inefficiencies. we're asking them to pay for inflation. >> what was me. we have no choice but to raise our prices. our labor costs are going up, our inputs. our inputs. but in reality, companies aren't being forced to raise prices because of inflation. they're raising prices because they can. >> and why can they now, with so little resistance, i asked. >> inflation sort of disguises these price increases. when prices for everything around you are rising, it's much easier for companies to raise their prices and not experience that consumer blowback. >> the point is, when consumers come to expect inflation, the process can begin to feed on itself. >> companies know that consumers expect higher prices right now and they're really seeing how far they can push that. >> and, says robert reich, wall street is egging them on, saying -- >> look, this is a great time to raise your prices, keep your margins and those wall streeters are saying the same thing to everybody else in the industry.

>> but in a competitive market economy, won't newcomers emerge offering lower prices? that's a lot less likely these days. >> 75% of all american industries have become more concentrated in the last two decades. >> most are now dominated by a handful of corporations that coordinate prices and production. this is true of nks, broadband, pharmaceutical companies, airlines, meatpackers. >> you got four basic meat packing facilities. and you pay a hell of a lot more because there's only four. >> now it's not literally just 4, but 4 dominate the market. and it's not just meat. >> see what's happening with ocean carriers. during the pandemic, about half a dozen foreign companies raised prices by as much as 1000% and made record profits. >> the traditional check on consolidation, of course, is antitrust enforcement. reich worked at the federal

trade commission in the 1970's. >> antitrust used to be a real thin but since the early 1980s, antitrust has taken a backseat. in fact, some would say it's been thrown out of the car altogether, and big companies now routinely have the power to raise prices. customers will note that there is almost an exact price matching among all major so-called competitors because they're not really competing. >> so, what is to be done? >> tonight, i'm announcing a crackdown on those companies overcharging american businesses and consumers. >> a crackdown on the shipping indust by regulators. >> if they identify that there is market manipulation or price gouging going on. >> the president's national economic advisor, brian deese. >> and the agencies have now committed to partnering where the department of justice has significantly more enforcement resources and investigatory resources. >> and the administration says it's working to lessen concentration in the food sector too. >> you need scale to be

competitive and it takes capital to get to scale. so the usda is actually right now working with smaller processors in rural areas across the country to try to give them grants, give them low cost capital so that they can scale, they can get into the game more quickly and easily. >> as the meat industry points out, though, it's been concentrated for decades. decades of low inflation, even in meat. in the end, this is any administration challenge, to affect real change amit economic forces bigger than all of us. meanwhile, with company costs rising at about 10%, corporate profits are rising 12.4%. that extra 2.5% or so seems to be at least part of the inflation we're all paying for right now. for the pbs newshour, paul solman. ♪

judy: what is the state of black america in 2022? a new report from the national urban league paints a picture on everything from the economy to voting rights. john yang has more on its findings. >> judy, since 2005, the national uan league has released an annual equality index to compare how black americans are doing in comparison to white americans. this year, the index shows that black americans get only 73.9 percent of what white americans enjoy, not much different from what it found in 2005. while there have been significant gains in some areas like economics and health circumstances, both up about 10% since the first report, in areas, like social justice and civic engagement, black americans have lost ground, according to the report. marc morial is the president and ceo of the national urban league and he joins us from atlanta where the report was released

earlier today. thanks for joining us. what does it say that it has been almost two decades since 2005, yet the overall index number is virtually the same? >> thank you for having me. what is has is that the disparities in american life between black and white is persistent, locked in in a sense of suspended animation. where you can have some progress in some areas, and a decline in other areas. proverbially, it is the caboose on the train syndrome, where black americans remained behind white americans even when things improve for black americans. they are improving at the same rate or more for white americans at the same time. this is the persistent challenge for 21st century america. can these gaps, these structural

gaps of racial inequality, be closed in the 21st century? >> you talk about what you called the caboose syndrome. we talk about the gains in economics come but the gain means you are only up to about, black americans are only up to 3/5 of what white americans enjoy and it is 84% in health. talk about those areas where there have been gains. >> i think the affordable care act and the expansion of medicaid had a dramatic impact by increasing the number of black people who were insured. it closed the health gap somewhat, but still, a 16 point differential is too much. the discussion about race and racial justice in this country is not fact-based all too often. sometimes driven by what people think or perceive or what they

make in terms of political pronouncements. this gap remains wide. this gap remains the challenge for 21st century america. >> in areas where the report shows declines since 2005, education, social justice, a significant drop in social justice and civic engagement. talk a little about that. >> the war on drugs, the broken nature of the criminal justice system, the way in which police and communities are at odds, the way in which black people are shot in an unjustifiable fashion by police, all of these contribute. the sentencing disparities, and while there have been efforts to address this, they have not gone far enough. that contributes to the social justice gap that exists in the nation. in civic engagement and voting, a big focus of this report, we

saw significant gains. black voter turnout in the 2008 election exceeded white voter turnout. that reversed significantly in 2016, when you had russian interference and post shelby voter suppression laws. in 2020, that gap in terms of voter turnout narrowed a bit, primarily because of the pandemic. four states -- for states to be more visionary. and i think more open in allowing people to vote by mail, to drop their ballot in a dropbox, to utilize absentee voting. voter suppression post january 6 , the day of the insurrection, where 40 states plus introduced hundreds of bills to take away all of these expanded options for people to vote, will narrow

the civic engagement or widen the civic engagement gap if we do not do something, and that is why the report has a focus on the splotch to what we think, diminish and destroy american democracy. >> that is why as i understand, you chose to release this in atlanta today, in georgia. you kicked off a campaign at clark atlanta university called reclaim your vote. talk about the efforts you are making in the midterm election year. >> i'm glad you mentioned clark atlanta university and the fact that we are hearing atlanta, the cradle of the civil rights movement. dr. king, john lewis, many other greats call atlanta home. if you will, this was one of the epicenters of the 1960's civil rights movement. on the other hand, georgia has become ground zero for voter suppression, the way in which the georgia legislature reacted

to the january 5 election and the aftermath of the january 6 insurrection is to literally lead an assault on the right of people to vote. he thought we needed to come again to the front lines, the front lines of where people can get a close look at what is happening in georgia. we also believe going to one of our great historically black universities, and including the students from spelman and morehouse and brown, along with the atlanta clark university community, places the spotlight on why protection of democracy and closing the racial gaps in this country is important to this next generation. to the students, who now are in activist mode, who are now posed -- poised to fight. our campaign says to people, frustration is not a strategy. cynicism isn't an option. we have to fight voter suppression, but we have to do

everything in our power to participate in the elections this fall because we have to put this effort to remind people that if you don't have a seat at the table, you will literally be on the menu. >> the president and ceo of the urban league, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. ♪ judy: a major retrospective art exhibition looks at the remarkable life and work of faith ringgold, who has fought for change in the art world and beyond for 60 years. jeffrey brown has this profile for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> in 1967, faith ringgold painted a work called "die," a large painting cauring the violence and chaos of the era. >> you can't necessarily change what's going on, no. but, i can

say what i think about it. i'm free to do that. and i will. >> sixteen years later, she exploded black stereotypes, in a work called "who's afraid of aunt jemima." you turned her into a powerful woman. >> well, she was powerful in t way she was doing something with those pancakes and stuff that nobody else had done. [laughter] >> at 91, faith ringgold is having a big moment. six decades of her art are on view in a retrospective exhibition at the new museum in new york, titled "american people." paintings, sculptures works on fabric. and story quilts, a mix of writing, painting, and quilting for which she is best known. >> i'm ready. >> across the hudson at her home in new jersey, we had a chance to visit the artist, on this day signing prints in her large and bright studio surrounded by the

tools of her trade, archives, posters, and artworks. of her life's work, she says this. >> i wanted to make a contribution to america. i thought, i have something to say about the american people. and what's great about it is i could say it. got freedom of speech. >> you could say it through your art. >> that's right. her works from the early 60s portray americans, black-and-white, looking at the met -- one another, at themselves in the artist, seeming to raise questions of power, as in one titled, "for members only" later, in larger paintings, came a more head-on confrontation: a u.s. postage stamp commemorating the advent of black power, and a work that might have been painted in our own time, "the flag is

bleeding." >> i felt like i needed to record some of what was happening at that time. >> is that the right word, recording it through art? >> yes. it felt powerful that i could express it, that i could have my say. >> ringgold grew up and spent most of her life in harlem, encouraged in her art by her mother willi posey, a seamstress and clothing designer. years later, she captured a memory of her early life in a work called "tar beach: summer nights on a harlem rooftop." she studied art at city college and set out to find her place. >> i thought i had a right to, and i thought i should and i could. >> but there were barriers. >> and i did. oh, please. everywhere. yeah, lots of barriers. your art is not welcome here, and you are not welcome here. and people have different ways of saying that, you know. but i

found my way. >> one way was through activism, protest 10 posters for civil-rights and black empowerment, demand for the art world to open up to women and artists of color. women, s says, were literally out of the picture, so she put them back, including in a mural-size painting for the correctional institute for women at rikers island, which has now been restored and appears in the exhibition. did you feel like you needed to make some noise? >> yeah, you got to be heard some way. you gotta have some courage somewhere, for being a woman and for being black, too. i just can't accept rejection on that level. >> she challenged art trends by using craft techniques like quilting. and art history by adding women and african-americans into the story. as in her 1990 series, "the

french collection." a family dancing in the louvre, a quilting bee amid van gogh's sunflowers, a parisian cafe. >> well, i was giving myself the freedom to take another look at the possibilities of what life could be. i didn't have to ju settle for what i was given. especially when it was so unsettling. >> new museum artistic director massimiliano gioni is one of the exhibition's curators. >> she's opening doors and windows and making the house of art much more complex and hospitable. the great thing about seeing this work together, seeing 60 years of this work, is you understand how many times faith ringgold was right, before her time. >> the story quilts contain literal written stories around their edges, and those beginning

with "tar beach" would lead to a way for ringgold to reach new generations, through children's books. she has published more than 20, with beautiful art and stories of history and inspiration. >> "tar beach" has the famous, anyone can fly, right? >> all you have to do is try. you can do it. >> in 2020, ringgold lost her husband, burdette, known as bertie, after nearly 60 years together. and the pandemic has been tough on this socially active woman. but she continues to be surrounded and supported by two loving daughters, michele, a writer and cultural critic, and barbara, a linguist and educator, both of whom help run ringgold's "anyone can fly" foundation. ringgold herself is now working on aroject about aging, but always in charge, she wasn't ready to show it yet. she was willing to say how she felt seeing her life's work on display. >> i'm glad i can look at it and not say, "oh, i wonder why i didn't do this and that." i did.

>> you look at it with pride? >> i look at it with pride, yes. because i have a right as an american to create the kind of art i want. so why not use that? >> faith ringgold's "american people" exhibition iat the new museum in new york through june 5th and then travels to the de young museum in san francisco. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in new york. judy: wonderful to look at all of that art. thank you jeff and thank you faith ringgold. tonight on the newshour online, farmers in central california are going into a third consecutive year of drought, as they contend with not only a lack of precipitation, but also authorities increasing limits on use of public water for irrigation. you can see more now at pbs.org/newshour. tomorrow night on pbs, the newshour presents a special hour focusing on the challenges the

formerly incarcerated face when they are released from prison or jail and re-enter society. amna nawaz hosts the searching for justice special, "life after lockup." >> the normal things you lose when you go to jail is everything. >> over 70 million americans have a criminal record. >> it screws up finding a job and a house. >> they save you are rehabilitated. the world don't know that. >> what happens after they served their time? x we taught ourselves to be afraid of people who broke a lot and we govern through fear. >> i will always be in a state of incarceration although i am free. >> searching for justice, life after lockup. wednesday, april 15 -- april 13. judy: very much looking forward to that tomorrow night, and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see

you soon >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. the raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. the target foundation, committed to advancing racial equity and creating the change required to shift systems and accelerate deck would of economic opportunity. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible

by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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