how did it hit your spirit when men like colonel bluford became astronauts?lling me all the time i was in the program under consideration, you're 20 years too soon. and it turns out that it was almost 20 years to the month that colonel bluford went up. and so i said in my brain, they were right. my job was to open that conversation. >> byron: that conversation continuing today. there are now 17 african american astronauts who have been to space with others waiting in the wings. ed ultimately found his place in the world following his air force career, becoming a renowned sculptor, inspired by figures of history who were hidden to him in his youth in segregated kansas city. >> i had a white education. i'd never heard of harry tubman until i was 43 years old. frederick douglass. george orson carver. i started, tell him the story. 132 black memorials and public art pieces around this country that i did. >> byron: now that everyone knows who you are and your mama always knew, what do you want your legacy to be? >> i was a guy that caused people to stop and think

looking at double jeopardy and prior cases, i thinking about bluford versus arkansas,e evaluate i as a matter of federal law. >> this court deterne what constitutes an acquittal. bluford is an example of a case in which the juryailed to reach a verdict. >> no matter what lel the state puts o it, the state can have all kds of procedures and they can s, well,e will say that this particular result i not ancqttal. we held a functional analysis and that as a matter of federal law we look athat happened and determine what count >> exactly, justice jackson. this supreme crt had characterized the granting as not an acquial. similarly in evans, michigan had held that the ruling by the cot in a case in which the judg mtakenly lost it was not in acquittal the definition of acquittal just last termn the smith case, this court defined what in acquittal is and that is a determination, a resolution of criminal culpability. >> i'm sorry. to pick up on that, mr. simpson, it is my understanding that there are jurisdictions in which eule is that if a jury returns an inconsistent verdict or some subcate

bluford is an example o a case in which the jy failed to reach a verdict >> no matter what label the state putn it, the state can have a kinds of procedures and theyanay, well, we will say that this particular resul is not an acquittal. we held a functional analysis and that as a matter of federal law we look a what happened and determine whatous. >> exactly, justice jks. this supreourt had characterized the granting as not ancqttal. similarly in evans, michigan had held that the ruling by the court in a case in which the jue mistakenly lost it was not in acquittal. the definition of acquittal just last ter in the smith case, this court defined what in acquittal is and that is a determination, a resolution of crimin culpability. >> i'm sorry. to pick up on that, mr. simpson, it is my understanding tt there are jurisdictions in which the rule is that if a jury returns an inconsistent verdict or some subcategory of inconsistent verdi, the proper procedure for the trial judge is to instruct the jury you cannot do that. your verdicts are irreconcilable is that your understanding, too? >>

looking at double jeopardy a prior cases, i thinkin about bluford versus arkansas, we evaluated it as a mter of federal law. >> this court determines what cotitutes an acquittal. bluford is an example of a cas in which the jury failed to reach a verdict. >> no matter what label the state puts on it, the state can have all kinds of produs and they can say, well, we will say that this particular result is notn acquittal. we held functional analysis and that as a matter of federal law we look at what happened a determine what counts. >> exactly, jti jackson. this supreme court had chacrized the granting as not an acquittal. similarly in ens michigan had held that the rin by the court in a case i which the judge mistakenly lost itas not in acquittal. the definition ofcquittal just last term in the smith case, this court defined what in acquittal is and that is a determination, resolution of criminal culpability. >> i'm sorry. to pick up on that, m spson, it is my understanding that there areurisdictions in which the rule is that if a jy returns annconsistent verdict or some subcategory of

geoff: guy bluford was the first black american to go into space in 1983.to do that 20 years earlier but it did not work out. >> it did not work out because he was the dream of one person and that was president kennedy. when president kennedy was assassinated, within weeks if not days, any dream of him becoming an astronaut was gone. they told him out of the line of people that were potential astronauts. nasa went through a selection that year and he was not among those selected. although everyone had given him the expectation that he would be. and the explanations -- the funny thing is that there are no explanations. to this day, you have history from him but there is no one on the other side to tell the opposing story. everyone says, we never heard of it. geoff: and he has since become a prolific artist and sculptor. >> i tell people that the greatest gift to the world was ed dwight not being selected as astronaut. he is one of the most prolific sculptors today and the one i love is his emancipation sculpture which is a life-sized -- it stretches across t

mae jemison, charlie bolden, guy bluford, they were all saying, what can we do for you? >> how can we help you? >> black history is american history. we forget it at our peril. >> in hollywood, i'm david daniel and the space race premieres today on national geographic. >> and starting tomorrow, you can watch it on hulu and disney plus. >> black history month is in full swing for an oakland musical group that's been around for nearly 40 years. the oakland interfaith gospel choir is inviting the public to several concerts that teach black history through song. >> the people sung more, they would be able to love more. and so this is an opportunity for the kids to really understand what they're singing, how they can be respectful of each other. and for us, we're singing so many different types of music from so many different types of composers. for example, our kids are learning music from the zulu tribe and from the south african tribes and all youth concert. on february 24th is free for all. >> oakland unified students and their families. go to oig, see .org for more infor

geoff: guy bluford was the first black american to go into outer space as an astronaut.983. but lisa mentioned ed dwight. he was set to do that some 20 years earlier, but it didn't work out. tell us about him and tell us this story. >> he did not work out very simply because he was, he was the dream of one person, and that was president kennedy. when president kennedy was assassinated, within weeks, if not days, any dream of him becoming an astronaut was gone, because they just took him out of the the line of people who were potential astronauts. nasa went through a selection that year, and he was not among those that was selected, although everybody had given him the expectation that he would be. and the explanations, the funny thing is, there are no explanations. even to this day, you have history from him but there is no one on the other side to tell the opposing story. it's just everybody says, no, we never heard of that. geoff: and then dwight has since become a prolific artist and sculptor. >> i tell people that the greatest gift to the world was ed dwight not bein

that legacy of him doing that foundational work to get myself in space and guy bluford, all these peopleis there's always the story that many even to today, try and finish the path or finish the road that people ahead of us were, for whatever reason, not being able to do iit, in many cases, race. is that part of what motivated you to do this documentary? >> i think the big guest thing is how many have never heard of ed white, charley bolden. they need to be motivated to see themselves possibly going to marches one day. the most diverse teams give you the best solutions. we need everyone at the table to help us from a technological standpoint, helping us save our planet, helping us get to the moon and mars and beyond. you need to know history. >> tell us the role that michelle nichols played where she became such a leading figure. >> she was the chief communications officer of the starship enterprise. nasa hired her to be the voice of, hey, how are we going to get the next women and minorities. she canvassed the country going out to find those astronauts. even fred gregory saw that commer