black? >> blackness is big enough to hold every shade. >> i am a black woman and these are my black daughters who happen to have a white father. >> i am black. it's never been a question, it's as simple as a beating inside of me. >> i am -- >> i am -- >>> i'm sledadoledad o'brien. over the last five years in this series, we've explored what it means to be black in america. my mother is black and cuban and my father is white and from australia, and when i was born in the mid 1960s the census doesn't even track the number of mixed race children, because my mother was black, i always considered myself black, and when i was a kid, my mother would tell me don't let anybody ever tell you you're not black. and more often the question i was getting was, what are you? with the 2010 consensus, more people are grabbling with that question and their racial identity. we follow two women who struggle with their racial identities and who were sick of answering the question, what are you? ♪ >> if i had, lik

black like sand and sky, black like heart and mind, black like me. [ applause ] >> i am black.african-american and i am accepting of that and proud of it. >> becca's roots are in africa, north africa. her parents were born in egypt. >> you feel you are african-american? >> yes. >> that's been a struggle for me. >> why is that a struggle? egypt is in africa, right? >> yeah, but it's not in sub saharan africa, it's in fake africa, not real africa. and most egyptians don't identify themselves as african-american. >> becca proudly calls herself black, but not everybody is buying it. is she black? >> no. >> why? >> egypt is in africa, but i feel like there's a difference between being from africa and being black. >> so you think that you don't get to choose what you are? >> i don't think you get to choose. i think while we would all love to get to choose who we are and how people see us, you don't always get the chance to explain how you identify. >> what makes somebody black in your mind? >> i think how people see them, a certain amount of experiences. >> so there's a black experie

i mean, it was never predominantly black because the black population of st. paul and minneapolis was not huge. i mean, it's growing now tremendously, but i mean it sort of represented a central, a physical centralized place, so its destruction, i think, in the early '70s, you know, sort of meant something to people of all walks of life. c-span: anybody refuse to talk to you? >> guest: throughout the entire book? no. one person did, but i found out later that she was very ill. but i didn't--it was lot of avoidance in martha's vineyard. no one actually said no, but they just--you know, they couldn't do it right now. but on the whole people were very forthcoming, very generous with their time. c-span: what would you tell them when you called them? >> guest: well, it was hard at times, you know? i'm writing a book about, you know, black america. i'm writing a book about what it means to be black. i mean, i tried to break it down and explain that it was a--in the tradition of a, you know, american travel narrative, and that i was sort of exploring different places

it was a moment of unprecedented black prosperity in which the two jacks three of black america was on the rise people were getting jobs were buying homes were buying cars sending their kids to colleges was a moment of real optimism. in the late one nine hundred fifty s. you begin to get the first. wave of what came to be called the industrialization. the american economy is changing we're moving from one of those really cami to an economy based on service based on information rooted in technology that is its high skill file wage training on one very low skilled sweatshop labor another. class find their skills don't fit into either those demands. they don't have the education or the skill or the training because of historic discrimination to work in aerospace. on other hand they don't feel any desire or need to go into the low skilled service sector jobs like hotel cleaning like sweatshop work downtown l.a. because they don't perceive that as jobs that american citizens should have. and not talking about people who are at the rear we're talking about people with jobs if you have a job

the black power movement and black power for black people. using the rights that have been gained to actually bring about concrete changes. i think for many of us we saw 1965 is the beginning, not the end. now we had basic human rights. now the question becomes what you going to do with them? how are you going to -- the black community by that time is 100 years in time because of the restrictions and discrimination. >> host: apartheid. >> guest: we can't just say suddenly we are going to catch up. there has to be movement. as martin luther king said where do we go from here? that is where we still are. we still haven't faced the question of what do we do with the right's? wright's? now that we are citizens what do we do with citizenship? >> host: dr. king and you quoted in your book. he trickery talked about moving from racial injustice to the hard rock of brotherhood. dr. carson where are we? we have a black man in the white house but michelle alexander who endorsed her book, she is the author of that wonderful book the new jim crow. the sta

getting studios to recognize the value of black film and black audiences.why don't they see that? why aren't they pouncing on this the same way as hip hop music or the same way they do football players or basketball players? >> one thing i would like to say, you said getting studios to recognize the value of black film. that's one way to go. i think it is also, how do filmmakers individually and collectively empower themselves so we don't have to rely on studios. so that we're creating our own innovative distribution model that's are sustainable in the marketplace. that allow our films to reach our audiences and tell our stories. so i think it is getting people to think outside the traditional parameters and constraints that studios will put on our content when it goes through their controls, their vehicles to hit the marketplace. >> what do you say to those folks, and there are plenty who say black folk don't want sophisticated content. the reason why these films are successful is that's the stuff black people wantto see. when it comes to black audiences,

black student meet while black panther found issue a new and bobby seale faced arrest and libby jail sentence. in a few short years many of america's most influential. black leaders and either been incarcerated. or sas. they ran him down and chased him down and out of the down a murdered everybody they could and made their body else either go to exile or to lock them up in a penitentiary and when all that was over with a new development rose the call the crips. you see. in the late one nine hundred sixty s. and the black cop playgrounds of fremont high school emerged this new order led by south l.a. teenager raymond washington generally credited as the crips founding member. in response number of rival gangs formed an alliance calling themselves bloods moniker adopted by african-american soldiers serving in vietnam. the opposing armies now in place battle flags were raised blue for crips and red for bullets. exactly which set our neighborhood true first place and why you never be known. for the next four decades or encrypt and blood sets the car the streets of south l.a. into a grid

black power for black people. using the right-sided again to actually bring about concrete changes. for many of us we saw 19655 is the beginning, nokia. now we have basic human rights. now the question becomes what are you going to do without? the black community by that time is 100 years behind. it has restrictions had discrimination. he can't face the year going to catch up. there has to be movement in that this martin luther king said, where do we go from here? that's where we still are. we still haven't faced the question of what we do with the rights we gained? whenever citizens, what we do citizenship? >> host: dr. king talked about lifting from the quicksand of racial injustice to the hard rock of brotherhood. on that spectrum, where are we? we have a black man in the white house. michelle alexander who endorsed her but amid the author of the wonderful book, the new jim crow, the statistics she writes about the work that people have right now in the 21st century were underemployed, unemployed, barfoot did w

the black caucus i could understand because you have a black constituency, so they have protected the black president, who has been attacked by the right, by fox news and other places. now i do not mind the truth, but when they start lying, i have to defend the president. you say you come to his defense, but often he is not a sensible when it comes to issues of the core, new jim crow, prison industrial complex, they cannot defend them. what they have been talking about needs to be highlighted because the legacy, there have been politicians on the inside who tried to move in certain directions and gotten a lot of trouble. i want to get back to the point of change. we do need fundamental change, but part of it has to be with -- has to do with the point about jobs. you can have all the education in the world like increase, but if they have no job, they have nowhere to go. why is it we do not have high quality jobs? one reason is in the last 30 years you have the financial sector and wall street moved to the center, 41% of profits going to the banks that do not generate jobs. they do not

>> as a black folk.ant to speak for 30 million or 40 million or whatever the number is now. >> stephen: good. >> i think we're pretty excited. >> stephen: still? >> yeah, yeah. [cheers and applause] in fact, i would go so far to say that this is bigger than the last time. >> stephen: why? >> well, because that was kind of -- no one saw it coming. cinderella tale winning the championship and this is defending the championship and we defended the champion shism black folks are excited about that. >> stephen: african-american children can now look up to barack. as a role mold. >> right. >> stephen: what about white children? they have to look up to joe biden, is that fair? >> no, no it's not fair but -- [ laughter ] after 400 years, you know, this is like eight years of payback right? >> stephen: excuse me, it is payback. >> you -- >> stephen: when do reparations start? thastles a socialist power grab in the speech. he is talking about ending the partisan divide. >> right. >> stephen: doesn't he have to tak

the black churches the black schools, the block whore houses, any place where black people gathered the mobs were going to destroy it, including first and foremost beverly snow's restaurant which is a symbol, the symbol in washington of black success. the restaurant is right in the heart town at corner of 6th and pennsylvania. it is frequented by politicians, senators congressmen, the finest of high society. beverly snow is a well-known and respected character and the mob in its fear of this anti-slavery movement and its fear of a slave insurrection and its fear of black success attacks snow. snow had friends. he knew there was trouble coming and he manages to escape, get away but the mob trashes his restaurant, drinks all his liquor, pours it all out and goes on this rampage and destroys the city. it is quite a shocking event. totally forgotten in the history of the washington. when i asked people about this, one reason i decided to write the book i asked people if they had ever heard of the riot of 1835 in washington and i never met anybody who had. completely forgotten but, when you

maybe three black families in lowe's alamos and mexico. so what was the black community like? i did not have much exposure a mess with my relatives in detroit. i learned through the freedom struggle i would pick up the newspaper there was martin luther king, little rock nine. students doing the sit-in and they became my a role models. then i yemen college and i get to go with the association meeting in indianapolis in bloomington. and i meet stokely carmichael, the first person i talked to. i told him i wanted to go to the march and he dismissed that. >> host: why? was see a detractor? >> guest: not just margin mr. king but for me he felt i should be in georgia or maryland and it so he would go in to these places there was activism instead of the of one day march is not what he had in mind and he was trying to recruit me but going to the one day marcher be the most exciting saying i had done in my life at that point*. >> host: let's go back to the march during the address what did you think? did you think it would be like the "gettysburg address"? >> guest: no. not at that poi

that was kind of the root of the black power movement and black power for black people. using their rights that had been gained to actually bring about concrete. i think for many of us we saw in 1965 as the beginning, not the end. now we have basic human rights and now the question becomes what are you going to do with them? the black community by that time as 100 years behind because of the restrictions and discriminations. you can't just say suddenly you are going to pack to late to catch up. there has to be a movement. and i think as martin luther king said, where do we go from here and that is where we still are. we still haven't faced the question of what do we do with the rights that we gained? now that we are citizens what do we do with citizenship? >> host: you quoted this in your book about moving from the quicksands of the racial injustice to the hard rock of brotherhood. on that spectrum where are we? we have a black man in the white house and michele alexander endorsed your book the new jim crow. the statistics she writes about where black people are right no

men and black men usually it's black men and black women usually we're spreading death. among ourselves. both black men down women are at much greater risk of getting h i v compared to their white counterparts youth as well as adults. we began our investigation by looking at men who account for seventy percent of all new infections among blacks but what was surprising is that it's not just men who have sex with men who need to be concerned about hiv. i did everything possible to get in this position yeah i wanted that act you know the way i did my life was famous and free so i pretty much got what i was looking for if i'm not mistaken alice and pain she community clone and i think that's why our verse i first fell on top when they told me i didn't believe you know because i had all these s.t.d. is like now. it's a cool way. you know bad i was my thinking about did it of all way but it didn't go away and stanley's response was good now and then now doesn't need as like i already already you know like ok if i get it i'm like yeah. you know i want to get our. and i probably

i was getting 25% of the black vote. black folks did not know me. they're looking at barack obama, we do not know -- where is he from and what is he about? we went javon tv and by the end we had 85%. my support in illinois is 90% among african-americans. the same thing you are seeing in the states where i am active. in south carolina i started out at 10%. now we lead among african- americans and that is before we have run any television. the interesting thing among black voters is what we hear again and again, folks are somewhat concerned about my safety and i have to remind them that i have the best protection on earth. we're going to be all right. do not fear on that. they're not sure that white folks will vote for me. do not sell ourselves short. do not anticipate that this cannot be done. we made a decision we're trying to break through those barriers. you can tell me i cannot do something. if people said i could not win voted ine ratrace, i got by the most votes. we had the black and white and hispanic and asian boat. i do not want to focus on

i had because i know for black people but especially black women there's already an expectation thato be resilient, that you're going to be tough. black women carry so much of a load. depression seems like it's par for the course. it makes women seem as if they're weak if they're not handling all their sadness and stress and trauma. >> that has been your mission, hasn't it, to talk about it? >> it really has been. the thing is, there's really no -- unless you go to see a therapist, there's no real safe place for you to go and speak about what it is that is in your heart and in your spirit. that's why to the amazing work that you're doing, speak all around the country and create a safe place for people. i start by sharing my own story and then the flood gates open because people realize that they're not standing on that ledge by themselves. >> just to jump on it. one of the major things is transparen transparency. i have the luxury of being able to talk openly because i don't have a 9:00 to 5:00. i don't have a boss. it's not going to ruin my life in any way. because i have that trans

oakland california currently a black neighborhood and and i went around and did a video project where i was asking people initially when obama got elected a couple years ago his presidency why did you vote for him and ninety five percent of the community said because he's black. how much of it is just kind of you know racial support preventing the african-american community from really questioning the militarism that he is aggressively pursuing. there's no doubt some truth to that and one has to wonder if a different president with the same policies would get greater uprisings so i think it's time in the second term to say just as we expect more we expect him to not worry so much about reelection we have to also demand more and we have to do as. i said make him make the policies better. and i live in durham north carolina for instance which is only several hours fort bragg camp please you name all of them and member they used to be a draft during vietnam but now we have a different kind of draft they have this program in a lot of the housing projects with black and brown called the yo

de author of how to be black. how do you be black? >> it helps so much to be born black.think that is the most reliable way of actually being black. this book doesn't comfort you from nonblack to black. it's not a modification program. is more of a moral and intellectual exercise and a sort of identity, storytelling and shiller ready. >> so what is one example of being black? >> well, the story of the book is mostly a memoir. i grew up in washington, d.c. during the crack war, in columbia heights before it got an occasion in the target. and that journey from a very political black power family and the legacy of my ancestors through the crack war and friends and harvard, that is the backbone of the book to read in there's lessons i learned along the way. how to be the black friend and they were to represent everybody that we may be look like, how to be the next black president is applicable in this particular season. this book has helped those lessons with some black experts that identifies who've been black their entire lives as well who really know what they are talking