good morning. this is "news 4 your sunday." good morning. i'm pat lawson muse. the march on washington film festival kicks off this sunday, ten days of films, performances and more. according to festival organizers the vision is radefined in c and brought to life, stories of icons and foot soldiers from the civil rights movement. to educate, inspire, and motivate people to better understand our history. joining us this morning artistic director of the march on washington film festival and author and journalist and a festival board member. welcome. thank you both for joining us. >> thanks for having us. as the artistic director, tellb us the kinds of film you

look for and howgeou put this er. >> we start after the festival ends, some of the are of civil rights we want to cover.ee we what is coming out. this year we have a film that came out this year. some are brand-new, just out in theaters >> and do people submit them or do you seek them out? >> i seek them out. sometimes people say we have a film -- one i heard from a friend. it's a bit of both. >> in addition to serving on the board, you're participating in one of the programs this year. tell us how ywi got involved the festival. >> the first year io wept almost every event. i kept showing up.

one of the founders kept seeing me. it's something i love and i think it important. >> we try to give advice and with the executive directo talk about what we'll be doing for the next year, and it's a combination of people, journalists, people who really care abouthe civil rights movement, who care about history and what's going on withl soc justice. >> one of the festival highlights is a documentary about madam c.j. walker, the first self-made american female millionaire. on friday there will be a screening of the documentary. tell us about that and about the extraordinary woman. first you, isisarahe and the woman who knows all about it. >> that is one of three events honoring the legacy of madam walker. we'll have a breakfast and our special guest is the hair

designer for the film "black panther" and also a third generation salon owner. then we'll have a master talk during the day for young people who are learning the industry and then in the evening is the other festival event. madam c.j. walker, the politics of the beauty salon industry, her work, not just in building a great business but in supporting the anti-lynching and civil rights at her period of time. >> you're anxpert on her. >> i am. 'sve written four books about her. reat to be showing this classic film and a dream and then to have a panel with a scholar who has written about koss m ogcosmetts.

we'll also have kimberly from sun dial brands which is the company that owns the beauty culture line of hair care products. and then i'll be talking about madam walker's involvement as a entrepreneur, as a fi philanthropist who supported anti-lynching and other civil rights issues. >> many people know her because of her hair care products for african-american women. many aren't as familiar with hea social activist and a civil rights icon. >> and that's what we want people to understand. so many people,re entrurs, people who owned their own businesses were supporting civil rights. they're still doing it today. she inspired other women who owned their ownn salon w churches became too much of a target. there's an entire history.

>> all right. the topic is tarch on washington film festival that darts on thursday. we'll continue ocussion right after this b.

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welcome back. we're talking about the march on washingtonilmestival 2018. i just saw -- it's important for young people to have vehicles like this. events like this to help teach em history, isn't it? >> i think so, absolutely, a for number of reasons. there's content that people know nothing about, peoe that are very familiar for me coming up when i was a young person ned now they'vr heard of. there's that and the point of view of being aware what happened then and how it impacts what happens now.

to have a say, they're speaking up more using social media more to protest andet their voices ard. we want to be a part of that inspiration. >> how significant i the viewing of films as a vehicle of instruction for this generation? is it a good feature? >> it's much easier to watch a film than to read a book. >> or to sit through a lecture. you see a film, you get to discuss it with other people and there's always music. the music for me changes the molecules in the room. there are civil rights songs, there's jazz, there's gospel, there's blues. there's a little bit of everything. it's a coming together. it's a reunion for people. you have some of the civil rights veterans. you have students. the energy in the room is always

incredible. >> and is that part of the intended mix? >> absolutely. yeah, and people learn from aer nuf different vehicles, as you said, and the arts are poweul foronveying those messages. >> what are the other venues? >> we're doing t t firstee nights at studio theater in northwest d.c. we're also n at they memorial, google, npr, nyudc. >> i mention ed you are a biographer. i want to talk about mad c.j. walker still. you devoted a great deal of your career to telng her story, to helping people understand her role in history. >> this story had not been told about madam c.j. walker and her role, the women she trained.

really the impact on the community. i have s40nt more thaears telling her story. there's a netflix series in tvelopment. thng for me is being able to inspire other people so they can see themselves and see their own succes >> do young people today know who this woman is? >> i d't know how many were sitting -- >> hearing their mother talk about c.j. walker. >> getting their hair pressed at 5 years old. they d d she is so important. she cared abo grooming and how to be healthy with our hair and how to take care of it. the salon is ground zero. hair is very importa. for i may not be one of the people

ec discuss it but it still is. now omically, politically, and historically. >> and if you look now at where we are politically, economically and historically it takes on a circumstances, would y say? >> absolutely. the new company that has the walker beauty culture line is a company that has now $100 milln venture capital fund for black women who are entrepreneurs. >> the question is aut tickets. >> yes. >> can we still get tickets? go to the march on washington film festival.

>> we can learn all about everything coming . meet one of the original little rock nine.

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welcome ba. ontuesday, july 17th, the march on washington film festiva will present a scholar symposium. joining us is ernest green who is one of the original little rock nine. several noted authors and activists and filmmakers and professors and others will give lectures at that symposium on the 17th. mr. green, you're going to be a special guest at the 2:00 p.m. lecture that day and that lecture is about a new plae entitled litck.

tell us about your experience ae f the nine. >> one-ninth of the nine, of the six students there were girls and three boys. i was the only one who was in the 12th great. i was from central high school but that year was one in which we celebrate d the60 th anniversary of my receiving a high school diploma. it was three years after the brown decision and it was one we didn't expect to turn out like it did. we went to help 101st airborne of the united stes army. president eisenhower decided to usurp the governor of arkansas

and provide protection. was an important piece because this was the first time that t federal government has stood behind the brown decision and i always like to point out that it was the history teacher in the 11th grade taught me we resist resisted as mh as we could. part of our history we didn't get in regular classes. and i said the little rock school board had known the woman was teaching history they would havehut the class down.

i thought they had better resources than we were getting. >> little rock is running off broadway and runs through september? >> ithr runsgh september. and it's a compilation of our stories of the nine. received a very ne review last week from "the new york times." it was a critics choice. help people understand the historynd whether madam c.j. walker and others that this was a big contribution. i had an opportunity pulling the march together.

i point out you would haveever heard dr. king's speech if they hadn't been able to provide the foundation that speech would have vanished. that's why i'm glad to participate in the symplmium and the >> isisara, tellut us a others participating? >> we are having a conversation with a gentleman writing a book on the relationship between rafa trujillo, a dictator in the dominican republic, and a preeminent black baseblayer who lived there for a few years. we have another book being discussed and notes and voiceso civil rights lawyers.

now he's up at harvard talkingo about the and the place of where the movement is now. >> and are there tickets available? >> absolutely. yes, >> the tickets, you mentioned earlier, you can get them at -- >> some ofhe events are $15. the sympoum is free. >> we want to continue talking about that. we're talking about the mar on washington film festival starting thursday.

welcome back. we're continuing our discussion about the march on washington film festival and we're talking to ernes green, one of the original little rock nine. do you think your e erience

resonates -- how much do you think it resonates with today's generation? young people who may not know about the separate -- about the board of education, t vs. the board of education ruling of '54, theis rnce after that or the civil rights movement. >> i think that we also have to reale that we're looking at, you know, seven or eht generations between the activity ofhe '60s and today. and that in many ways we have ot done a good job as parents and adults letting young people understand our history. and what the contributions were and who played a role and all of

that. my hope is the film festival, the t in little rock and new york,er o vehicles, books that my colleagues have writn, nt, alldy of the move of that will hopefully light a spark under some young person who should realize that we were 14, 15, 16. >> you were young student activists. >> we were. and we beeved, all of us, that we were pursuing a better education for ourselves and for our future. i think the history of the civil rights movement birmingham is about yog people. montgomery, the people w continue the bus boy caugcott ae

work done was done by young foot soldiers. moved the movement to a point this is where we are today. now we're surprised how much there is resistance and people want to push back. i've always said this is a marathon and not a sprint and we're going to continue to push until we have awakened the masses out there >> there is a tremendous parall of what he was a part of and what we're seeing in the streets of the country today. >> absolutely. see high school students stepping forward, being parts of marches, talking to members of pushing bills. trying to change the way we are living in a way that's more t livable and j for all of us on a number of issues whether it's immigration or gun control

or better education. i think what happened in the 0s and 0s was a bit of a foundation not just in this country but in other parts of the world on how the social justice movements can move forward. >> another event that takes place, at the national cathedral, and i will have the privilege -- >> ye pat, ywill. >> of moderating that panel after the screening. more than a million followers around the world. he was a social and civil ak vis. why do so many people n? kn >> i think this was a while ago in history and because since then until now the way we hear

things, things happen so quickly. back then it took a while. but if you nmeice a t between him and madam c.j. walker, took whathey didut then built on it in so many different ways. he had low-incomehousing. he did community development. he started businesses. he handled everything did in cash my parents were immigrants and i remember my mother came and developed tuberculosis, and she couldn't find a place to live except in one of fathe devine's houses. >>e' be seeing -- is it father's kingdom? >> yes. >> i'll b there and i can't wait. thank you so much. thank u for being withus. to see any "news 4 your sunday" program log on to nbcwashington.com. this is customizable streaming tv for your family...

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here's money for pizza. here's the wi-fi password, but, if you go online while the boys are online the internet can slow down and... they don't like it. you guys don't have fios? [mrs. jennings] oh-no. but it's a 100% fiber-optic network with ridiculous speeds. you could have, like, a hundred devices online at once. interested, talk later. bye boys! don't even think about going online. woah... i can't work like this. the 100% fiber-optic network means more speed for more devices at once. so get a fios triple play with a 2-year agreement, and choose a free samsung chromebook 3 or credit towards other samsung tech.

6:00 onda this s morning, here's what we're followi for you. "capita of the gazette" shooting is laid to rest. a war ofwords, north korea blasting the u.s. in a stinging statement following a meeting on denuclearization. hundreds of firefightersir putting t lives on the line to stop a wall of flames racing across the west. want to wel ime youon a beautiful sunday morning.