over the years, one of his strongest supporters has been archbishop desmond tutu. on wednesday, tutu issued a statement in support of his participation in the parade, noting -- "had south africans and people of the african diaspora allowed others to determine who we would embrace, mandela would still be in prison and have been stripped of the stature we gave him and that he deserved." all of this comes as puerto rico is in the midst of a bankruptcy process and is preparing to hold a referendum on its political future. on sunday come the same day as the parade. for more, we are joined in studio by oscar lopez riverara. while in prison he wrote two books, "between torture and resistance" and "letters to karina." we are also joined by juan cartagena, president and general counsel l of latino justice. we welcome you both to democracy now! oscar lopez rivera, how does it feel to be free? >> it feels wonderful. it feels completely, completely different than being in prison. for the first time i can hear the roosters seeing early in the morning. i can see my family. i can

and south africa, desmond tutu. he is all over the place.is what is so interesting about him, because he is so well read. and everybody that i who knew him said, i wish you could see his library. charlie: more books than any general that ever served in america. [laughter] mr. filkins: yes. this is a deeply educated secretary of defense. charlie: having been with the guy, having listened to his quotes, having had many conversations with him, what influence is he going to have? mr. filkins: a lot. i mean, a lot. charlie: how will america be -- his defense posture and place be different, because he is our secretary of defense? mr. filkins: he is very aggressive. he is a general. i think he reaches for his gun, and i think that is -- if you talk to people around him, they will say "what we are doing is reestablishing the american deterrent." if you mess with us, you're going to pay a price. in their criticism of president obama, they would say basically, he was too soft with our enemies and thereby encouraged our enemies like russia, like north

. >> he said you're well off if you have read angela's ashes and desmond tutu's writings and if you havetudied northern ireland and the efforts of rapprochement there and in south africa following their civil war as you are in you have read sher man, and obviously von clauseworth. >> obviously. >> well, think about that. he was talking there, that was an interview that he gave. >> there is the guy, he understanding. >> that is the thing. >> sher man which was destroy everything. >> burn everything. >> yeah. >> and you know, that's-- he was giving an interview there to a marine, to an official historian. and he was talking about counter insurgency. and so there he is, he is quoting from angela ashes which is about a story about ireland, he is talking about south africa, talking about desmond tutu. he's all over the place. and that's what is so interesting about him. cuz he is so well-read and everybody that i talked to who knew him said you got to, i wish could you see his library. >> he has more books than any general had ever served in america. >> yeah. so i mean this is a deeply educat

my team borrowed a book from what happened in south africa with desmond tutu. brought over here by william winter at the racial institute of ole miss. we began something called the welcome table in the city where he with different people of different races sit around the table for years. by the way, i didn't just start taking these monuments down yesterday. this started functionally about but you 2.5 years ago. what we found was, people sit across the table from each other and they listen to core and they talk to each other and they live together and their children get together it begins to thaw. they begin to understand. they begin to see what is painfully obvious, we're more alike than we are apart. race is a real deep divide. it's hard for us. we're not good at it. you can't go over it. you can't gloss over it. you have to sit and you have to go through it. which means you have to take time at it. it has to become part of everything you do it has to be understanding how you create solutions that are equitable. we have equity strategy that's built our budget.

so my team borrowed a book from what happened in south africa, with desmond tutu, that had been brought over here by william winter at the racial reconciliation institute of ole miss. and we actually began something called the welcome table in the city. where we had different people with different races sit around the table, really for years. and by the way, i didn't just start taking these monuments down yesterday. this started functionally about 2 1/2 years ago. but we had been talking about it for well before when south carolina happened. what we found was when people sit across the table from each other in their kitchens and they listen to each other and they talk to each other and they live together and their children get together, it begins to thaw. they begin to understand. they begin to see, which is painfully obvious, that we're more alike than we are apart. but race is a real deep divide. and it is just hard for us. and we're not good at it. which is why i say, you can't go over it. you can't gloss over it. you have to sit and you have to go through it. which means that you ha

it was desmond tutu who said, "do a little bit of good where you are. it's those little bits of good, put together, that overwhelm the world." we're not here because of the people we read about, history books, yes, that's part of the story, but we're here because of little bits of good, of sacrifice, of decency, of mercy and of love. let me tell you about two ralphs. and when i was in college, to ralph meant something completely different so let me be more specific. it was emerson who said very simply, to paraphrase him, "that only what we within, can we see without, if we see no angels, it's because we harbor none." now i worry because i still see now the words of ralph ellison be so true, he said, "i am an invisible man, because people refuse to see me." i believe that there are so many people we encounter every day that we just don't see. but what is even worse than that, and i am compelled by that, it is what drives me every day to try to make this nation one more of justice and mercy and decency, but i'm telling you now that i'm in a professional w