we didn't tell the story of the first would be african american astronauts or about the african americanventor of the first telescope ever placed on another planetary body. here is an important question to ask here, did any of this matter, did it have a positive impact? as far as he was concerned, it certainly did. >> it certainly help change not and nasa but the whole federal government. italiaed the ground by showing that there were black professionals that could do that, you prove the fact that people were available that could do it. it helped to break the walls down. it helped change people's perception about black people in the south. president kennedy said that america had to pursue a space program because there was new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won and use for the progress of all people. of course, he was not talking about american race relations when he said that. an accident of timing and coin -- coincidence -- and in doing so, the space program would help white americans gain new knowledge about black fellow citizens and their abilities. thank you very much an

these were professional jobs for african-american women in the city of topeka, so that was going to beost once these schools were integrated, so while some wanted integration, there was some resistance, thecially teachers and local chapter of the naacp who feared the loss of those jobs, and that was not unwarranted when the middle schools integrated a few years before. there were african-american teachers who lost their jobs, so the feeling, there was very much division between what was going to be gained, which was full access to neighborhood schools where these african-american children lived, but there was also a sense of loss of what was going to be happening to the teachers and students. the museum was designed to describe the broader struggle , and it goeshts back to the origins of slavery in the united states, so when you and to the building, you will be greeted by a park ranger, and then the focal point of the exhibit is a 25 minute series of films, which is a dialogue of a young woman an older man which basically traces the origins of slavery, the and itsn of slavery replaceme

african-american, those that worry their kids interaction.e okay until they have the driver's licence. kits can enter the criminal justice system. we know a disproportionate amount of americans in the criminal justice system. >> you don't believe there's a height risk in interactions between african-americans and the police. here is a tip. don't enage gauge in rape, don't engage in robbery, car jack of course, and you'll be amazed how easy it is to avoid encounters with law enforcement. it is that that people are concerned about. what parents ought to say or the mayor of new york ought to tell his child, the most important risk to life and limb in his life is from a black male between the ages of 16 and 24. it is not a man in blue, and it is not a white guy. the elevated risk will come, and the center for disease control has recognized one of the number one killers of black men or other black men. >> that elevated risk is so high. they have it as the number two cause for black men. >> and statistics are correct. it doesn't take away from the

charge of african development agenda. on the private sector side, aubrey and i spoke to all the major figures but these icons in people to collect the gates and rockefeller's. tony linda lou, they are starting for billions of dollars and they address these things left to ngos recommend nation. other comparison is governing as the main source for wealth creation. that is changing. the pie is expanding and the number of people is growing him a lot of it has to do with entrepreneurs and business leaders. the other thing we noted is a huge surge winning diaspora entrepreneurs say they are directing businesses next to africa are returning to africa from the u.s. after having worked in the air here. another thing we picked up on this match is diaspora entrepreneurs. africa is showing a draw for professional class across the world. we noticed not only is it bringing back african entrepreneurs, it is pretty much printers that would've worked in big companies anywhere and that shows reversal of brain drain and a lot of that in the

second term, we have now seen an african-american president who happens to be african-american.the first time it was the president who happened to be african american. the reason why i say that is because he is open on how he regards racial issues and as president you are president of all america. all america needs to understand where you come from uncertain issues. particularly when it deals with race issues. personally, i am thankful to hear that because he has brought out an issue that a lot of people were sweeping under the rug. the issue of race police involved shooting or killings. right now you have to marry law enforcement in trying to root out the problem. >> should he have gone to ferguson missouri? >> that's a very tough question. it was such a hot day. what would that have accomplished if he did? >> presidents don't usually go there unless there is something they can bring something solutions. >> ferguson is is part of a bigger issue. ferguson is tired. they they were a town that was upside down. it is inverted. you you have white rule, black majority. that's why say

african-american students, professors and administrators. so they launched a struggle in 1968. they planned a sedan. they engineered a really successful protest. they took over this building for a couple of days. they had a great media strategy. they got a lot of local media attention and they then proceeded to conduct negotiations with the administration and they were able to when many of their demands including an increase in black student enrollment and the creation of a black studies department which is thriving today and has one -- a ph.d. program, one of 10 or 11 country that can serve the hd is an african mega-studies. >> host: what is your background? how did you get involved in these issues? >> guest: i initially as a young person wanted to be civil rights lawyer. i grew up in connecticut in the northeast tonight came into his political social consciousness as a young person in the 70s and was very taken with a liberation movement, with the women's movement particularly just the words like equality, freedom were i thought very power

influence, african immigrants are becoming increasingly influential in the u.s.. the number one educated group in the country by any demographic immigrants by a recent sense of study and an example of that, someone we interviewed for the book, every spring in new york and d.c. there are newspaper stories of african immigrant kids who get accepted into every ivy league school. >> just to conclude before we start the panel, we are very optimistic but not blind to the downside and negative situations emerging in some areas of northern nigeria, the migration in terms of the mediterranean and other challenges that are hitting the continent and specific countries. we have looked at that in depth, we have a chapter on potential deal breakers that could be real african growth or the prosperity will be distributed equally. some countries surged ahead, a lot of that has to do with institutions, and other factors. and a big surge forward so we can continue to see headlines about new billions invested new ipos, nigerian chefs, fashion designers, those things are indicative of

is still one of the largest investors of african countries. i think the most recent that last year was the highest investor. so procter & gamble alone with half a billion dollars with south africa ament nigeria but i would say competitive challenges that they stem from operating in developed markets just like if we all looked out the window to think the rest of the world thinks like we do we actually are abnormal for the rest of the world with traffic, the urban cities of though world operate very different purpose 7/8 - - what i see them struggling with is they are working the way they always have worked and one of the vintages from india or china but they have villages in their own countries so they are used to that messiness of rapid development. we reduced to that in the 1890's but it has been a while. >> but for two generations so can you talk about those challenges? >> what do i say? [laughter] but there are lots of little challenges and to power through them and the question ended say good one to stop and think about it as they come fro

there were african-american teachers who lost their jobs.here was a sense of loss in what was going to happen to these teachers in these institutions. the museum was designed to tell the broader story of the struggle for civil rights in american history. the roots of that go back to the origins of slavery in the united states. when you enter the building, you will be greeted by a park ranger, and in the full point or beginning point of the exhibit is a 25-minute series of films which is set up as a dialogue between a young woman and an older man that traces the struggle from civil rights from the origins of slavery, the abolition of slavery in the civil war, and its replacement with an institution that was every bit as unjust, which were segregation laws. that as a starting point, as is can move into the first gallery which looks at the importance of education and the african-american community, and that leads up to the decision to use education as the legal issue whereby the naacp would end all segregation laws. that was the which issue to

you have shared african cooking with your american friends. but you have also had a burger and a hot dog at the fourth of july celebration. i am told many of you went bowling for the first time. it didn't go that well. there were a few strikes. by the way, there was at least one marriage that came out of last year's class. [applause] pres. obama: so who knows what we will have in here. so as your time in america comes to a close, i want you to remove her that this is just the beginning and we just started this. the truth is it that our greatest challenges, whether it is inclusive development or confronting terrorism dealing with conflict, climate change, increasing women's rights children's rights, these are bigger than any one nation or one continent. our hope is that 10, 15, 20 years from now when you have gone on to be majors in government or leaders in business were pioneers of social change, that you will still be connecting with each other. that you will still be learning from each other. and that together, you will be reaching back and

you can also see, african men -- african-american men making claims on citizenship on the basis of their loyalty. it could also potentially upset the gender hierarchy as well as women potentially could build upon their loyalty and stake a claim for full rights of citizenship or what they understood as full rights in the union. today, i am going to talk about shifts in understandings of citizenship in the context of several major components of reconstruction as envisioned by congressional republican architects. we are going to be talking about the civil rights act, the 14th amendment, reconstruction acts the 15th amendment, and the documents assigned for today. i'm going to focus on the majority opinion. republicans, primarily the republican consensus as much as there was one. i'm going to show how congressional republicans in response to the intransigence of former confederates we talked about last class experimented with loyalty as a replacement for race in their understandings of citizenship and the ways in which they restricted access to the right and privileges of citizenship during

so some african countries have said, well, why should we have to do anything? well, the answer is, is that you have to project where you're going to be 20 years from now or 30 years from now. if you get locked in now in, for example, the way you producing energy that's producing a lot of carbon, given the youth of africa and its rising population, you could end up being the major carbon emitter if you don't take plans now. so what we're saying is, learn from our mistakes and find new, sustainable ways of generating energy that don't produce carbon. when i was in nairobi, i highlighted the work we're doing with something called power africa, which has generated billions of dollars with the goal of electrification throughout sub-saharan africa. but part of what we're trying to encourage countries to do is don't automatically take the old models, think about new models of energy production, and try to leapfrog over the old models. so, for example, with solar energy, we were looking at solar panels that you could send into rural areas, put on the roof of a hut, and

and -- aspirations over ofican-americans and -- african-americans and thoughts kosovo their struggle to achieve that. this program was part of the symposium hosted by the lincoln group. >> and you may wonder why we have this old podium. this pulpit is the one in the old church that pastor gurley would have used during the pre-martial era while the old church was in action. to introduce our next speaker, i will like to bring and the editor of our "lincolnian journal," wendy swanson. wendy swanson: i am very honored to be standing at this pulpit and very honored to be introducing our next speaker, edna greene medford, who many of you know. shoes are very treasured friend of the lincoln. she is a very treasured friend over the lincoln group -- she is a very treasured friend of the lincoln group. and one of our members. she always provides us with well-crafted, meaningful remarks. she is an author, much published. the chair of the history department at howard and co-author of the publication "the emancipation proclamation review." and editor of the price of freedom series, slavery and th

africans would require them for a long time to come. but what should they do with the populations under the mandate rejected paternalism and demanded self-government? in the mid-atlantic 22nd mission confronted the question. first in 1925, a local revolt against the rule became a national rising. france was put down by the use of human shields and that the bombardment including damascus. second, the passive resistance movement against new zealand by virtually the entire population of western samoa was made by new met by new zealand with incomprehension and then regression. this was in the demonstration. this movement proved impossible to repress when the men were banished and took to the hills the women took over and this is the leadership and kennedy. in both cases the rebellion at a persian internationalized spurring massive drive into the end the end of that before the mandates commission. in both cases, too for the representatives came to rome or geneva where the commission was meeting to make the case. but in both cases the commiss

his relationship to african americans will not be what my relationship is. and my relationship certainly isn't what my parents' was. nevertheless, we're all very much influenced, you know, by how we come up, who we grow up with. >> hinojosa: so does your son talk to your dad about the fact that he was a black panther? >> yes. in fact, my son is reading the autobiography of malcolm x right now, over the summer. >> hinojosa: and your son is 11? >> yes. >> hinojosa: now, you talk about the fact that in your family, mom and dad-- you know, there could have been all kinds of crazy stuff going on out on the street, in terms of guns and drugs and police and all that. and you were inside your home, being forced to read ishmael reed. >> yes. >> hinojosa: i love that image. so are you doing that to your son? are you, like, "no, no, no, no, no, you have to stay home and read the autobiography of malcolm x? >> yeah, but you know what? he's a lot more adept than i was and he's quicker. he's actually... he's a much quicker reader and, you know, he comprehends things a lot

said that should be open to all qualified africans. in chicago and new york and most famously was controversial. it was seen as watering down and it was finally repealed after undergoing controversy for many years. it was critical to the expansion of the black middle class. cliff did help to change that opportunity structure from the people in the region. and those of are the most well known and most loved - - longest lasting achievement for student activism that when students fought for change it was very controversial. many have forgotten the house centric the curriculum was but in all of the major public universities large share of small that if you approach the typical american literature ritter is richard wright or james baldwin? he would be told they're not worthy of inclusion on a college curriculum so they had to fight for their own education and so with the transformation of knowledge reduction and teaching the influence back -- black studies and latino studies but all disciplines in the liberal arts were impacted for the bett

laura: has the united nations failed the people of the central african republic?babacar: i'm sorry, has the united nations? laura: has the united nations failed the people of the central african republic? babacar: if we failed, united nations --i don't think -- laura: has the united nations mission in the central african republic failed the people it was supposed to be protecting? no, i don't think so. i think we are properly protecting the population. it is because of our presence that the entire political process is moving forward, even though there are still violence in the country. i don't think that we have failed in our mission to protect the population. thisly agree with you that huge, abuses are really putting huge jeopardy, and something we should fight against with determination. laura: babacar gaye, thank you very much for talking to us. well, just time to bring you a quick reminder of our headlines this hour. iran has taken a peace plan to damascus. mohammadgn minister javon zarif jetted into the capital for talks with bashar al-assad. violence erupted

looks like four different african-american women. wax what kind of documents did you find the ring your research? -- >> what kind of documents did you find in your research? >> there were a lot of advertisements and letters between people. you actually have people sending things to one another, corresponding. one of the sets of letters is a letter sent to mary dix sloan when she passed away. acknowledging how important she was to washington, to howard, to african-american leadership. i also looked at organizational documents from their meetings to get a sense of what organizing was like, what community was like, what political activism meant to these women. >> what types of documents are you working on now?\ >> i am interested in the idea of turn-of-the-century womanhood. i'm thinking about the ways in which african-american women represent themselves. so still kind of a cultural history but a different type of representation and how women imagine themselves in this new modern world at the turn of the 21st century. >> thank you very

and so the second time we have now seen an african-american president who happens to be african-american. the first time that the president happens to be african-american. and the reason why say that is because he is open and how he regards racial issues. and as president you are president over all-america. and all-america has to understand where you come from on certain issues, and personally i am thankful to hear that because he has a lot of issues that a lot of people were sweeping under the rug for many decades. and the issue of a police involved shooting and right now you have to provide support for law enforcement and trying to read that. >> has support for ferguson, missouri? >> it is such a hot bed. and what would've been accomplished if he did. sumac president don't usually go somewhere sensitive unless there is something that they can bring away from it. >> he said sent the attorney general dharna calm down for a while. but it is a small piece of a bigger issue. people were tired. ferguson was a town that was upside down. it has been inverted. you have white rule in black major

>> a professor of african-american studies and i teach courses on the civil-rights movement a survey of african-american history and just finished teaching a freshman this america is america post ratio? often do african-american history after the civil for down to the present. >> host: what is your answer to the question is america opposed racial? what does that mean? >> give interrogates the idea that began to circulate says a black man was in the white house maybe the united states had overcome the long history of white supremacy so there was a lot of attention to that question after he was first elected and sadly in our own recent time we have seen very unfortunate and dramatic illustration is that it is absolutely not the case of the course explores a range of issues to police violence and police brutality to take up the question of what is the extent of racial disparities. >> host: some people might be watching to say she is a professor of african-american studies question marks? >> the field was fought for by black students with some black scholars and it was up quest to really

african-americans are characterized as being on intellectual. the way to be at the is outsmarted them. this was a case where he out strategized and a moment -- and op opponent. ahe was also involved in number of activities, way too many to mention here today. on the top left, testifying before the united nations. he was one of the founders of artists and athletes against the apartheid. you see other people there, harry belafonte, and others as well. on the bottom right, he is arrested in 1985, following a demonstration outside the south african embassy. it will be the first time he is arrested, but not the last time. of course, when i asked my peoples, when i asked what they know about arthur ashe, they tell me he is a tennis player that died of aids. is apartheid activist absent. this is when he revealed to the world in 1982 that he was not only hiv-positive, but suffering .rom full-blown aids he would die about one year later. he was named the sports illustrated sportsman of the year. before i conclude, i want a finish with two things. the fir

there was an extra layer and a degree of difficulty when it comes to african-american women. all of the documents that i found in looking after the employment. the skulls were difficult. i did a documentary on the space program which is one of the places and one of the women i talked to said she had wanted to go to emory university. women were not allowed in the engineering school. you couldn't go. number one, it didn't occur to anybody at nasa to ask the women to be anything other than typists but they might not have been able to service. it was an extra hurdle to get over. >> in a non- clerical, that is a double discrimination area. first, the african-american issue and second, women were largely confined to clerical secretarial jobs within most agencies. they were working in the hard numbers and in the nutritional science and other things like that so an african-american woman trying to enter the workforce as an engineer is a rarity and faces an almost impossible job interview given the nature into the time. we should excuse the nature of the time, but time, but it's almos

medford had created the masterpiece that students of civil war and african-american history must read. and if you do not have a copy, we have a publication table downstairs for you this publication is available to review and look at and to purchase. professor medford is also a valued advisor to many boards and on the lincoln bicentennial foundation board. lincoln study center, abraham lincoln institute, she also has served as the scholar is advisory council for president lincoln's year in washington d.c. she received a special award in 2009 from the state of illinois for her lincoln studies and last but not least, she received our own lincoln group award a few years ago. she is a respected historian and valued friend of the lincoln group. today, she is going to be talking a one of the most important legacies of lincoln in the civil war era, the story of the african american. please welcome edna greene medford. [applause] professor medford: thank you for that fine introduction. i was wondering who you were talking about. i was given permission to close this because i am so short. i wou

and also supported equal civil rights for african americans. nonetheless, president andrew johnson who had previously in a democrat, which explains some of the ways he was at odds with his nominal party, he vetoed an extension of the freedmen's bureau act. congress had to continually renew it so he vetoed that. he vetoed the civil rights act. he argued these congressional measures were unconstitutional because they represented augmentations of federal power. the federal government presumed to take on powers of authority reserved for the states. he also argued, what these measures did was to give special handouts and protections and privileges to the blacks at the expense of whites. johnson specifically opposed the extension of the bureau on the grounds congress had never before provided such privileges to our people, as he called them. what does that mean? who was he referring to? >> the confederates? dr. lee: who else? who else was andrew johnson referring to by our people? what do you think? >> whites? dr. lee: more generally, the former conf

the second nonnative settler was also of african descent. they were just not aware of the early african roots of california. this is an aspect of our history that's worthy of much greater interest and exploration, and i'm so honored and pleased that dr. salomon will explore it with us here tonight. please do stay after the program to chat about a copy of his wonderful book. his wife owns one of the best restaurants in oakland, so i encourage you to visit that as well. so i hope you enjoy. please give our speaker the warmest welcome. [ applause ] >> all right. thank you very much. thanks to the california historical society and also the mexican museum. it's quite a crowd tonight. thanks for coming out on a wednesday. it's nice. i mean, it took me awhile to get here tonight. so, this book was written a few years ago. it took me about six years because i was still learning how to write at the time, going through all the processes of writing a biography. it's very tough because there's so much missing. for example, the spanish documents have ver

only 3% of african-americans were registered, in mississippi, only 6 president of african-americans -- 6% of african-americans were registered. what you saw within days hundreds were registered, then thousands, and eventually millions. so the registering of voters was a key part of it. then federal officials stayed in the south to make sure that elections weren't stolen this places like selma, to make sure states complied with the law. and over a longer period of time what happened was those states with the worst histories of voting registration, alabama, mississippi, georgia and south carolina, they had to approve their voting changings with the federal government to make sure that states complied, that we didn't have to pass the voting rights act of 1966 and 1967 and 1968. so that enforcement mechanism, the fact that -- and this is what the supreme court rendered inoperative in 2013, but the fact that the law could actually block discriminatory changes before they went into effect made the voting rights act so powerful over a period of five decades. >> and how many times did laws ge

americans have or african people have dealt with over the centuries. was a young person from the congo. that's a contested term because theon word, you know at one point it -- negative cog -- >> it was brought in by a man named samuel to bring back to exhibit on the fairground. that's how he came to the country. two years later he -- he ended up being exhibited uragatang. those who have known of otabenga was a fiction created by the people who exploited him. so there was always this suggestion that he was in tis exhibition as if he was a show-man but the archives show that held captured and brought to this country against his wishes. he was caged in a zoo with apes against his wishes. so this is a corrective of history.e >> so the book opens the book opens with a very detailed texture account of the bronx zoo in early days. one of the things that's compelling in the way you present the story is not a story of h horror, it's a story of triumph scientific celebration it's a story new technology age where the united states of america is positions itself i

african-american women. why? dr. blain: i have been interested for a while in capturing the voices of women who have just -- their voices have been lost, and really hidden in the crux of u.s. history. i wanted to excavate their stories. i wanted to help us better understand african-american history, the lack freedom struggle, and the complexities of that struggle. i wanted to add to the discussion, beyond mainstream narratives of the civil rights movement, for example, or women's involvement. i wanted to look at women activist that most haven't heard of. >> what did you learn? dr. blain: in that paper, i life of aut the woman, a working-class black woman from this joy. i spoke about the ways in which she and gazed in the concept of black internationalism, primarily through the 1930's. forgingabout her work activists.etween part of what i did for this particular panel was to try and get people to think about the , whohese historical actors we hardly talk about, black women can be thought about as shapers of black inte

african-american history and culture hosts this event. it's an hour and a half. >>> it is such a pleasure to be here. i want to thank you so much for joining us in this celebration. we're here tonight to celebrate two important cornerstones of our democracy. one, of course, is the 50th anniversary of the voting rights act and as mr. ellis said, also the 75th anniversary of the legal defense fund, and i positioned them as two cornerstones of our democracy. one is obviously a law that helped to transform this country and provide the legal protections that allowed this democracy to evolve into what it is today. still in progress, but it's certainly better than it was, but with any law you need enforcers. with any law you need those who will protect that law who will enforce it, who will allow it to live out its fullness and i know that the legal defense fund has spent all of its days since the passable of the voting rights act working towards that goal and then many, many others. i'm particularly proud to represent the legal defense fund ton

why so many african american men are missing in the polls. plus history in havana, how so many americans could profit from opening of diplomacy. >>> the watts riots in los angeles started when a white highway patrol officer stopped a black motorist suspected of drunk driving. on lookers rushed in. many believed they were witnessing another example of excessive force against african american men. the rage quickly deinvolve devoa long six days. later urged law enforcement agencies to change their policing methods in black communities. it said those methods promoted a quote deep and long standing schism between the two, in the decades since, the mistrust is still there. even triggering deep tensions in places like ferguson, missouri. this week's one year anniversary of the shooting death of michael brown was marked by more protest and more violence. even though officer involved was exonerated in the incident, the investigation found that local police purposely target ed african americans with petty tickets and arrests. according to one estimate

african-americans are asking themselves that question in 2015 and many young african-americans are not liking the answer, and so to the extent that we all believe in investing in this democracy with our soul, our spirit, our work and so forth, we have a massive disinvestment plan happening right now, and it's called voter suppression, and it's called police violence and abuse, and we have to get our hands around it if we are to encourage young people to participate as we want them to as citizens in this country. >> some recommendations for bipartisan commonsense solutions to making voting easier, including on-line voter registration, poll worker stations. many states, including alabama, still have not acted on those recommendations. why? >> if you go back and look at the -- how -- it has been hard for black folks in particular to have rights in this country, but if you go back and look at it, you will see that in the 1950s there was education rights that were at least recognized by the court, and then you saw in the 1960s then it was early 1960s, it was right to transportation. when i

just because it happens in african america, no good deed, nothing in the film is specific to african-american. same is true of other films with african-american leaders. nothing specific to the african-american experience that whites, germans, foreigners can't get what the film is about. i work very, very hard to try to make films that are not culturally or ethnically exclusionary. i want to make films that are inclusionary and can be enjoyed by a wide audience. >> and lucius, and -- >> for inspiring filmmakers, advice, never give up. >> end of the day, hollywood is a numbers business, and if you can -- you can be making the greatest film. if they're not resonating, people aren't connecting, you'll find just continue to make films. i've made films with commercial success and am proud of that. >> you want to marry my sister, show me you're worthy of her. >> how am i supposed to do that? >> i'm going to take you on a ride along. >> i want to continue to raise the bar in terms of the quality level of the films i'm making. >> strictly a business relationship. not buying a new friend. you're hirin

what does that mean for african-americans? they are governed, too. under present nidential reconstruction, they were not allowed to participate. what congressional republicans were attempting to do, and they thought of it as temporary, they wanted these governments to be loyal. they wanted them to have a loyal basis and be created by loyal men. the reconstruction act did not require these no state governments -- to disenfranchise confederates forever. they just did not want them in the process of creating these new governments. they wanted to do that because they wanted to even though it seems contradictory they wanted to create this form of government in which white men and black men could participate. does that shed a little bit of light? ok. a republican commitment to the significance of wartime loyalty contributed to the black male suffrage culminating -- some republicans favored citizenship and its rights and privileges for black men as of a moment as their political obligation to the union. particularly through their military service as union s

the first african-american able officers - theval officers and first african-american to have a phd in his field. his experience as an academic is a lot like other african-american academics, engineers at the time. he was told when he asked about promotions, why no promotion? why in my still here? he was told you have already come farther from anyone else in your race. we thought you would be ok with it. could not see that happening now and it should not have happened ever, but that is the type of system that existed. there was political pressure integratedated -- an nasa core would make sense. an african-american astronaut. in 1961, the white house is sending memos to get a black astronaut. we need to find a candidate to eventually qualify to be a black astronaut. clearit is never quite who orders it. whether it is president kennedy who is directly involved with it, or his brother robert kennedy. never quite clear how this exactly happened. curtis lemay, the air force chief of staff, tells chuck yegor that bobby kennedy wanted an african-american candidate. he was given this by the ge

they were considered wild africans. sure if these people were holy human sometimes -- some people thought that. they were interesting to the people in key west. they were interesting to the people visiting. they would go down and watch these people through the fence. we know that they spent their days drumming with barrels. they would spend their days dancing. their time here, they took as good care of them as they could. there were three doctors and a nursing staff working 24 hours a day. the sad part is a lot of them are really, really sick from being on these ships. they were not well taken care of. the slaving crews were all about money. it was not about taking care of people. a lot of them were very ill. a lot of them could not recover. died during their time here in key west. graves onburied in the south shore of island. we do have records. there was great debate amongst our government representatives and the president as to what the answer was. here,eople said, they are put them into slavery. we could use them in

after the years of construction, african-americans and -- reconstruction african-americans -- while the tactics may no longer be ku klux klan and forced, there are no less important -- enfor cced, they are no less important. there has been a decades-long attack to ensure certain people are in power. certain voices are heard and certain voices -- interests are favored. we are up against people like the koch brothers and world citizens united who build support to fund right-wing elections and preserve the conservative agenda. voting rights are set up in pretty packages. history demonstrates that at their heart is the desire to prevent african-americans, and other minorities, from participating in the electoral process. this is unconstitutional, undemocratic and un-american. i, and my democratic colleagues, college students, student rights activists, progressive women's organizations, lawyers and ava will not accept any erosion of our rights. we are prepared to engage in whatever is necessary and will not quit until we can restore voting rights protection for all. [applause] >> thank you c

>> african american. >> if i started speaking spanish, would my race still be african american? >> you have, i would say, afro characteristics. if you started speaking spanish-- >> i just asked you what my race is. i just asked you what my race is. what is my race if i'm speaking spanish to you? >> it's a fair point. >> answer my question. >> well, if the police think that this man-- >> what do you think my race is? >> afro-caribbean. >> keith, i've known you for a long time, have a lot of respect for you as editor. why don't you tell us what your race is? [laughter] i've often--i can tell you what mine is. >> i'm a suspect, and i'm at large, and i'm not inclined, mr. mayor, to call you up and tell you what my race is. [laughter] >> ogletree: because he fits the profile. he's 6', 180 pounds. >> actually, sir, i now wear a kaffiyeh, and i speak arabic. what is my race? >> well, i'm not going to make a presumption about your race. >> somebody's making a presumption, because you've got a suspect description in a newspaper. >> the description that i asked the newspaper to put in was