ms. brown-nagin: he did. ms. ulaby: then she was plucked, a wealthy white man learned -- i think -- what set her on the trajectory to columbia law school? ms. brown-nagin: right. let me tell you about it, and a bit about her background. she was not a person of privilege. in fact, her family was a working class family. her parents immigrated to this country from the west indies in the early 20th century. virtually every male relative in her family worked for yell university, and she grew up in the shadow of yale, in new haven. something i know in what -- in my work, one could imagine one is a working-class black person growing up in new haven in the shadow of yale, there might be resentment. but for her family, their position was inspiring. her father really read the privilege of the young man that he served at yale as a chef, into himself. and the parents thought of themselves as the father in particular, as superior. they were part of the british empire, and proud of that. they were ambitious in their own way, an

ms. brown-nagin: he did. ms. ulaby: then she was plucked, a wealthy white man learned -- i think -- what set her on the trajectory to columbia law school? ms. brown-nagin: right. let me tell you about it, and a bit about her background. she was not a person of privilege. in fact, her family was a working class family. her parents immigrated to this country from the west indies in the early 20th century. virtually every male relative in her family worked for yell university, and she grew up in the shadow of yale, in new haven. something i know in what -- in my work, one could imagine one is a working-class black person growing up in new haven in the shadow of yale, there might be resentment. but for her family, their position was inspiring. her father really read the privilege of the young man that he served at yale as a chef, into himself. and the parents thought of themselves as the father in particular, as superior. they were part of the british empire, and proud of that. they were ambitious in their own way, an

ms. brown-nagin: thank you. [applause] joining us on the book tv set is author clint smith. his new book is "how the word is passed: the reckoning with a history of sleepy across america." you might know him through his writing in "the atlantic" or his youtube series "crash course in black american history." mr. smith, you were raised in new orleans. what was your life like? mr. smith: it was great. it is the best city in the world. it is one of those places you do not fully appreciate until you are not there anymore. i was 17 years old when hurricane katrina hit new orleans. this week marked the 17th anniversary of katrina. it was a surreal moment for me to reflect on the fact this was half a lifetime ago. in so many ways, it feels like yesterday. i have been thinking a lot about how new orleans shaped me as a husband, a father, a writer, a person. but also thinking about all the ways my life was offended in ways i do not think i have fully processed yet. i just wrote about this incredible documentary, "katrina babies," and done by a young man -- will he is similar age to m