tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley.tonight a conversation with civil rights act tavis myrlie evers-williams -- civil rights activist myrlie evers- williams. we are glad you joined us eerie at a conversation with -- glad you joined us. a conversation with myrlie evers-williams is coming up. ♪

re >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. tavis: the june 12 assassination in the driveway of his home focused national attention on the response civil rights activists faced in the south. she worked to get justice for her husband. andlly his murderer was did

sentenced to life in prison. from washington. an honor to have you on this program. >> you know how much i adore you. the driver who took me to this building said, i just love him. we appreciate all you do. we are proud you are a mississippian, and i thank you so much for having me on your show today to talk about the 50th anniversary of medgar evers's assassination and the programs. tavis: you know i admire you just as much. i am so fortunate on this program my makeup artist we have

known for almost 25 years eerie at her father charles is the .rother of -- 25 years her father charles is the brother of medgar evers. van is my staff photographer. just to my left i see them every day. it is an honor to have that legacy on this show every single night. >> we are family. we were talking about something different. i wish it were about something other than the notion of your husband having been murdered eerie at that leads me to the

question, how you have lived with this. dust this, yet you have managed to not the bitter. that for fiveone decades? i have been an angry woman and as someone determined to see justice prevail, to be sure what remembered medgar, he stood for, and even though he wanted to continue his work, he was willing to give his life to move us forward. ahad an opportunity to visit place in mississippi, and in one room was the gun used to kill

medgar. i realized the trigger took his but i could imagine him falling. i have come to embrace that as something moving forward in america which we needed terribly. i am human, and i have had unadulteratede, hatred, but it was not helping. what can i doay, that is positive gamma that is what i have attempted to do these last 50 years. the deep-ten rid of

seated hatred by keeping medgar's name alive, and that is what we are about on this anniversary. anniversaries have a way of educating people. focusesmedia spotlight on a moment in our history. people become aware of what they did not know. oray that because whether not there has ever been any medgar has not gotten the respect he deserves. there are so many icons whose names people know with ready availability, but what say you about the way he has been regarded or not on the ee five this anniversary? this the eve of anniversary? >> how he felt in giving his

i would read newspaper articles about leaders and say, where is he? that is why i have devoted my am ato his image, his work because having him left out has and i wasul to me, determined i would take care of his children and secondly, to prepare myself to play a positive role in society. re-, being sure people did not being surehree, people did not forget medgar. the issue came up of naming a building for him. a couple of people said no. we already have an airport

named for him. one woman said, you want everything named for medgar, and i near lost it eerie at each thing in mississippi should wear his name. it to theking extreme, but i have been devoted to doing everything i could to keeping his memory knowledgeable to people, but i youngerng today the generation is beginning to pay attention. more young people are beginning to say, tell me something about ,edgar evers. it is rewarding and i am beginning to feel the hard work is paying off are. mississippi is rich with people who gave their lives, their money, their homes, everything for equality and justice in

that state, and i have been concerned young people do not seem to be familiar with that part of history, so for the next 50 years we are working to develop the institute, which will focus on civic engagement and bringing young people in so they can learn about that period of time, learn about the strategies of medgar and others and put those to use in today's times, because we still have the same problems we did years ago. i am very concerned about our youth and their awareness during that time. tavis: i want to come back to disengagement. there is a lot to it.

for years he did not get the kind of respect he deserved eerie get now there is a ship named -- did not get the kind of respect he deserved. now there is a ship named after him. there is an airport named after him. a couple ofing hours to celebrate this huge statue in mississippi honoring medgar evers. i am anxious to see it in person, but tell me more about what you think the value is of people coming to terms with who he was and what he did eerie at -- what he did. hopefully that will make history. think about the injustices people have suffered, but also

to realize we still have some of the same ills in society today, and if we do not find construct of ways in which we we can community, -- become a community. a commencement speaker at the university of mississippi. was quite an experience for me. i was not sure how people would react, and then i said, i do not care how people will react. i will speak my mind. my speech was well received, and at the end of the commencement, the chancellor medgarzed to me for being treated in the manner in which he was treated to regard -- he was treated.

i find it interesting at this point in time that would happen. people were in the dining room talking, and people were saying, meredith is here. i looked out the window, and there was james meredith and his wife getting off the cart. they came into the building. someone said, do something about it. and i hadhe door, blocked it with my arms to the side. youooked at me and said, have to come through me. we had the biggest laugh from that. i am beginning to read about people who are not quite saying

they are sorry, but they are on the verge of it. maybe that is a start. at arlington cemetery there will be a cemetery commemorating medgar and his work. i am told the governor of mississippi will be presidenent. i do not know if he will say any or not, but he will be present. there is some ring going on. 50th anniversaries bring it all out for us to commit and recommit eerie at -- and recommit. heading to was mississippi to meet you and so --y other ignorant terry's so many other dignitaries and to unveil this statue, i was asked ceremony, andf som

i look to see who was on the program, and i thought i am andoducing the governor both senators, just a long list for the unveiling of this statue. i raise that to ask what you make of the progress. you make of mississippi these days? >> mississippi has grown in reputation. that word,to use but i embrace it now. i feel we are much more honest in our move toward reconciliation, but we must not

fool ourselves. there is a more or less silent minority that still holds on to dishonestyand between races. is look backto do to when president obama was elected and go to the university and some of the students rioted because obama was reelected eerie get you balance those things. here is -- obama was reelected. yet you balance those rings. they still want things to remain the same. is going toat continue, but hopefully we gain enough courage, particularly with young people, learning their history and finding ways a can help us become a unit of americans. tavis: since you mentioned

president obama, i can almost medgar to thek podium with you when you were asked to give the invocation at the ceremony we saw around the world at the cemetery. tell me about it eerie at -- tell me about it eerie a. let me start briefly. that was a dream come true for me. after his assassination i was asked to be one of the few females to speak, and i was given a few minutes. i was in boston attempting to get to washington to deliver those few minutes. i could not get through the crowd, and i said for the lost out on, i

such a marvelous occasion. little did i know almost 50 years later the president of the united states would ask me to deliver the invocation. as i looked out over that mass of people, i felt no fear. i felt comfort, and i felt a sense of dignity, and i felt my grandmother with me. when i spoke to the fact there at then and women cemetery just four miles from where i stood, that was my tribute to medgar. i did not call his name, but that was where his body rest. i do not know how many people picked up on that, but enough did.

i do not expect another 50 , but i hope this 50th -- but this 50th anniversary has raised some negative feelings again, and i am surprised they have surfaced eerie at -- surfaced eerie get it has also raised awareness. i am determined to do whatever i can to help us move forward. tavis: an amazing story about the march on washington, and we are still learning details.

a longtime congressman from atlanta, georgia, he is the last living person to have onken at the march washington, and we commemorate and celebrate that march 50 years ago. medgar is assassinated in the same year. you were asked to speak at that march. i had forgotten you got caught up in the crowd and did not get to the podium. here is why that is fascinating, because you would have eaten the only woman to have spoken that day. i am fascinated if you can recall what did you think you were going to say that day? no notes.

just from the heart. overe had a chance to look , and i was surprised i was able to be as thorough as i was. let's go back to the march when there was dissension amongst the men who were building this come, and dorothy had to in and tell them, sit, and listen to me. we are not going to have this division, and women will be -- tod to speak eerie at

speak. she kept it from being a disaster. women have played an important role, and we have not received the respect we so rightly deserve eerie at -- rightly deserve. it is a thing, though being on realizing i still have , but about what happened you cannot wallow in pity or wallow in hatred and give up on a society i believe is the best

society in the world, and he believed in the country and said, that is what i believe. you make the case we are passing through the era of obama, but what say you about the best way to engage ourselves civilly in the u.s. of a? andhat is a tough question, i could had answers give and say this is a guideline. that is one of the critical we will be exploring. i want to see us be able to ofng together generations

bringing in thinkers, and thinkers do not always have to be academic. they are people who speak from and they know their communities, and they have worked to find solutions. we have to embrace that. where do we find the heart? where do we find the feeling to go deeper and say, these are the ?nes we must do there is no answer. what do we do? we explore. we discover. we write.

we bring people together. if i may, programs like yours ,elp get the issues in the open and we may not all agree, but you put it all on the line. people cannot forget you. they cannot forget the show. tavis: i am done. give me some tissues really quick. i am delighted to have her on the program. i have yet to describe what it feels like to have been born in mississippi and to have lived in the era of myrlie evers- williams and to have gotten to

know her and become part of her family. >> i embrace that, and love you too. >> that is it for the show. >> for more information, visit us at pbs.org. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with elizabeth mcgovern and julian fellows.

♪ >> there is a saying that dr. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> narrator: welcome to "film school shorts," a showcase of the most exciting new talent from across the country. experience the future of film, next on "film school shorts." "film school shorts" is made possible by a grant from maurice kanbar, celebrating the vitality and power of the moving image, and by the members of kqed. [ wings flapping ] >> girl: you know why i call you monster? because you behave like a monster. what am i supposed to do? huh? what?