we can learn something from frederick douglass. on this very special occasion, i would like to honor that legacy of love. happy 200th birthday, frederick. >> good afternoon. i'm chris van hollen, senator from the state of maryland. we're very proud frederick douglass began his fight for freedom in the state of maryland and then went on to lead the abolitionist movement and a great leader in the women suffrage movement as well. great to be here with the speaker and leader, nancy pelosi. thank you for coming together for this really important tribute and occasion. to leader mccarthy and cedric richmond, the cdc, thank you for organizing this gathering. i'm also honored we're here with ken morris jr., the great great great-grandson of frederick douglass and to nettie washington douglass, thank you for keeping the spirit of frederick douglass alive. the two of them just returned from maryland's eastern shore, where there was a tribute to frederick douglass and his spirit of liberty and the change that he brought to our country. all of u

susan: how did frederick douglass obtain his freedom? maclarin: he attempted to run away in several locations, but the one that led to his true found freedom was in 1838. we have to back up, because he met his first wife miss anna marie douglass, and she would aid him in his quest of becoming his own master, and he would disguise himself as a sailor and make his way up from new bedford delaware all the way up to new bedford, massachusetts by train. susan: he was crossing into pennsylvania for freedom? kamal maclarin: once he got to pennsylvania, a deep burden was released off of him, because you best because he knew that he had stepped into freedom. susan: how old is he at this point? kamal maclarin: 20 years old. susan: and how did he establish himself in massachusetts? he was in the golden age of speechmaking and was certainly a gifted orator. how did he discover that talent? kamal maclarin: he discovered that talent before he was "discovered " by the slavery society. he was actually honing his skills on the plantation and with free 6l

i saw in every white man an enemy, and almost every colored man, a means for distrust. >> frederick douglassinventing himself, quite literally. he is born into slavery. he then liberates himself. he becomes an abolitionist. douglass is trotted before white audiences by william lloyd garrison as the person who bears the marks of slavery on his person, and then he is asked to speak and to tell his story. >> i spent my first night on the it was cold, but nothing compared to my days in ol' master's house. >> be silent! >> now, gentmen, if you take issue with today's lecture... >> the idea that the north was on the side of virtue and the south was where all the racists were located, that's wrong. >> aah! ♪ ♪ >> though frederick douglass escapes to the north in the search of freedom, he's still a fugitive from the law. any white northerners at the time, particularly members of the democratic party, do not believe in black equality. they too fear the consequences of emancipating the slaves. >> [ yells ] >> douglass realizes this. he knows that as long as slavery is legal in any part of the country,

two years later, lincoln consulted frederick douglass about the urgent necessity of encouraging slaves to run to union lines. douglass found the willingness to summon him remarkable. later, he wrote that the president knew he could do nothing, which pulled at him more fiercely, the ribaldry and the vulgar, and showing him any respect as men. douglas added "there are some men who can face death and dangers, but have no moral conviction to contradict a prejudice or face ridicule. in daring to admit, nay, in daring to invite a negro to audience at the white house, mr. lincoln did that which he knew would be offensive to a crowd and inside the ribaldry, which was contempt." it was saying to the country, "i am the president of the black people as well as the white, and i need to respect their rights and feelings as men and as citizens. many years later, douglas wrote, "in my three interviews with mr. lincoln, i was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race. he was the first great man that i talked to in the united states freely who, in no single insta

you could use frederick douglass as an example. there are ways you can document have a certainat transparency, so it makes it very easy for people to check sources and follow them. in the 19th century, in certain respects, the night teen century is closer to our own moment right now, in which there were not as many official channels of dissemination. until nearly 19 days we had something called the fairness doctrine. when you articulated a point of view on tv or on the radio, there had to be an opportunity for an alternate point of view next to it. as soon as that was abolished in we ronald reagan era, got the rise of shock talks and right-wing talk radio and talk news. and now the whole news ecosystem is organized around people talking to themselves and their chosen demographics, without regard to any form of reliability or verifiability. policy matters. elections matter. >> anymore questions? more questions? you started to address the question i was going to ask, but how have people historically dealt with that moment, that seems

and you'll see the image of john brown and frederick douglass.and we have the first edition works of the biography of frederick douglass as well. and behind you one of my favorite artifacts is down here on the bottom of the case. and it is known as the beacher's bible. her father henry beecher was a staunch abolitionist as well. he took sharp rifles, put them into a case and would ship them to kansas in support of the abolitionist movement. this isn't an exact quote but close to it. henry ward beecher said if he can't convince slave owners through the word of god that enslavement of the african people was wrong, perhaps he could convince them by looking down the barrel of a rifle. so he would pack these up, put them on a train, marked them as bibles so you wouldn't be sus mishs -- suspicious as they were transported to kansas. >> he talks about formation of the american bible society which today is still largest in the world, even though there are bible societies in virtually all countries, the american bible society is still the largest and help

it is not the woman's hour, frederick douglass and the other abolitionist tell the women. the women's hour will come but it must wait and that is where the title of my book comes from. there is a heartbreaking split between the movements. stanton and anthony refuse to support the 14th and 15th amendment because women are excluded, and for the first time the word mail enters the constitution. it says male citizens shall not be denied the vote. stanton says, if that word mail be inserted in the amendment it will take us at least a century to get it out. she is not quite right. it takes over 50 years in anger, stanton and anthony express bile and racist sentiments against black and immigrant men who are not as well-educated as they are and they say why should they have the vote before women like us. it took years to heal the breach. but it was healed, however racism in the movement was never fully resolved, just as it's not been resolved and the rest of our national consciousness. it was a painful moment for the extraordinary 50 year partnership between stanton and anthony. i

frederick douglass said, after the civil war, that the south repackaged its hatred of the yankees in the civil war and directed it toward the freedmen, to disestablish the 14th largelyt that was born here in memphis, and set aside the 15th amendment and parts of the 13th amendment, that we went backwards and repackaged the hostility toward the aggies into hostility toward the freed -- hostility toward the yankees into hostility toward the freedmen. dr. king said what happened at the end of his career is that america had repackaged the over resentment of segregation into a resentment of the federal government sponsoring diversity and civil rights laws. and hostility to government became the prevailing theme in government. he said george wallace has revised his stump speech into minor little classics that never mention race, and say that his only goal is to restore the goal -- restore the role of local governments from tax and spend liberals. and we turned away from the message of dr. king for largely 50 years, into gridlock. it has happened before. my thesis is that race is and always

we are lucky enough to think about the witnesses that we have . 200 years ago frederick douglass was born. he said after the civil war that the south repackaged its hatred of the yankees in the civil war to disestablish the 14th amendment largely here aside the and set 15th amendment and parts of the 13th amendment, that we went backwards and repackaged intolity of yankees hostility to friedman. dr. king said what happened at the end of his career is that america had repackaged the over resentment of segregation into a resentment of the federal government sponsoring diversity and civil rights laws. to government theme ine prevailing government. and say that his only goal is to from tranquil governments and tax and spend liberals. we turned away from the message of dr. king for largely 50 years in gridlock. it has happened before. my thesis is race almost going to has been -- that it can swing open and it can swing closed. we tend to bounce off of race to get onto other topics and lose the wonder of it. the new -- it is potential across racial barriers. we are in another time of stirr

[laughter] representative pelosi: he was our frederick douglass of the group. but more importantly, louise took seriously her responsibility to empower the next generation of women to stand on her shoulders. throughout her time in congress, she mentored staff and other women members to achieve their full potential, and in doing so , she changed the target and culture of the congress. louise made the congress more diverse, more welcoming to women, and more representative of our nation. she encouraged members and staff alike to know their power. we thank her staff. she loved her staff. she took pride in her staff. and i know that they took pride, whether it was the rules committee or her personal staff. [applause] representative pelosi: so there are two things i want to say in conclusion. one is that louise was a moral force in the congress. when you had to make a decision and you went to speak to louise about it, it was about looking into a mirror of your own conscience. her response was always so right. so values based. that you wondered why it was ever a quest

and we are lucky enough to think about the witnesses that we have . 200 years ago frederick douglass was born. 50 years ago dr. king was killed in the city. after thedouglas said civil war, that the south repackaged its hatred of the yankees in the civil war and directed it toward the freed men, do disestablish the 14th amendment largely here in memphis, and set aside the 15th amendment and parts of the 13th amendment, forbidding slavery. that we went backwards, that we repackaged hostility of yankees into hostility to the freed men. dr. king said what happened at the end of his career is that america had repackaged the over resentment of segregation into a resentment of the federal government that was sponsoring diversity and civil rights laws. and hostility to government became the prevailing theme in politics. he said, george wallace has revised his speech into minor classics that never mention race and say his only goal is to restore the role of local government from pointy-headed bureaucrats to tyrannical judges and tax and spend liberals. he invented the vocabulary of modern po

then america was in that revolt that frederick douglass had complained about a hundred years before. nevertheless, he offered optimism. every single time. i think that is the most distinctive thing about dr. king. the timbre of his voice. hear the struggle between realism and hope in his voice and it comes out as a him for n for hope every time to we have to offer optimism in this time of stories so that we too have a chance to take the legacy of equal souls, equal votes forward again. moses, i give speeches occasionally and he does everyone of them, he says, i wish every candidate, every debate would begin simply by recapturing the astonishing, breathtaking audacity and optimism of our form of government and every citizen's responsibility simply by reciting the first sentence in the constitution. it is very easy. but when you think of what is piled up from 1787, it is pretty breathtaking. " we the people of the united states, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure

next on american history tv, we learn about frederick douglass's kamaland legacy from com mclaren, a museum curator. we talked with him at the american

frederick douglass stood up and said you must demand equality. you will not be given it unless you demand it. for all of his life. and he truly is. the early pioneers of the suffrage movement they been working together for years as abolitionists. in the idea of women's rights. the idea of being able to vote. the women's rights are sibling movements through the civil war. the suffrage women form something like the national oil leak. and as a first --dash a national political organization of women in our history and they push abraham lincoln. they fully expect that after the war they are sadly disappointed. they are they're told after the war. that they cannot handle two great reforms at once. they tell them that the black man needs the vote more desperately. as a matter for us of life and death i would say. it is not the woman's hour that they tell the women. there is a heartbreaking split between the movements. for the first time the word male enters of the constitution. they should not be denied the vote. and stanton said if that word male be in

but i had no idea people like frederick douglass, people like martin delaney. it was the importance of having a voice and instrument to be a voice for the community to get that out and attract it subconsciousness created could restore and build that community and that is what i saw in the programs and intended to do and what i've been fortunate to see come to pass. >> why did you leave the black panther party? >> the easiest way to say it is that it was time. i left the party at a time that the party was transitioning into something else. i went out to california under the charges were in jail. there were people facing life as and the party promised legal help. i was waiting to talk to get support and it never happened and i reached a point that became clear to me i was with the wrong people, so i left and came back and i was disconnected because when i left the party was at the center of political activism and coming back, i was disconnected from that and confused. i have five children at that point. so it kept me connected to. people would stop and say okay w

they are looking back in the past and talking the sins of our country, and it is so important, frederick douglassh-pooh. they do know the truth about the country but share it. a share of mistakes in this country, but we have to believe in the heart of our country is just. that is something that must be passed to the next generation as we move forward. jillian: what is your thought that it was two years ago that hajj started doing this, most of the time removed himself from the situation and you see things like this popping up all over the country. >> seems to be a trend in the nfl and now children mimicking a lot of this now. we don't know how long it sticks around, very poor form. and there is a different way to do that, the national anthem of our country. jillian: what would you say to kids? >> we live in the greatest country on earth. we -- the dna of our country is goodness so important we remember that and safeguard our democracy, it must be passed down, not something we can fabricate or make up ourselves and understand at an early age. jillian: thank you for joining us. >> one life down, 8

frederick douglass, i mean, was a powerful orator, and certainly you look at him for, to read through his writings, it's stirring. it really is. and i think part of what's challenging is, you know, he stands up with a great social critique in the south, and i mentioned earlier the bible often times has been used for oppression as well as liberty. i mean, he's living in a society where in the south oftentimes, you know, many of these folks are preachers that are saying that god has ordained, you know, slavery and appealing to sections of the bible like with noah and this curse on ham and saying that, you know, god has cursed a people. and as they apply it to their own context as the white, you know, southerners that are benefiting from the persecution of other people. and so i think, you know, for douglass he had an important critique at his time of saying, you know, you use that argument, but is that really the heart of what the bible's trying to argue? isn't it -- what about the ideas of justice for all people? and so douglass is calling for justice and mercy in dispute to, you know,

that is an elite african-american beach community in maryland that was originally funded by frederick douglass's son. he was not wealthy, but by the standards of that day for someone who was african-american, he was doing ok. in terms of time, he did it in the summer. out, trying to figure it he said he was collecting stuff before 1935. a lot of the dates of interviews and the book was in production process for most of 1940. so he worked on it for a few years. could you tell us one of the best oral history stories? kate: i think the story from hannah brooks about remembering elizabeth keckley and being around when that book was written is an amazing story. there is another story from washington's own memory of his grandmother's friend who church in being in a washington dc on the night of , the day of 1862 the issuing of the emancipation proclamation. during the civil war in washington, especially with some churches with prominent pastors, white dignitaries liked to go to these churches and see what was going on there. she described how an advanced they were going to be white important people th

would appropriate be spaces and have extraordinaru freedom celebration and recite orations by frederick douglass, other leading abolitionists, but to get to the migration point by the 1880s the city decided they did not like these anymore and didn't like the public celebration of emancipation to go on. especially in the public squares and so the city started passing ordinances to amount and that effectively is what happened. they pitched them to another less prominent part in charleston and off charleston peninsula outside the city and effectively drove them away. they erase themse from public memory so by the early 20th century people didn't even know the nickname of theseth emancipation celebrations. they were famously called [inaudible] after the name of a dance thatrm was performed foro years and years. it was not so much a migration but a forced migration, not a consensual migration. >> lane, my next question comes from you. i've mentioned [inaudible] a couple of times and i was thinking when i was reading your wonderful book that i was thinking about black reconstruction by [inaudible] and

state university then went to colgate rochester divinity school up in rochester, new york where frederick douglass is buried. then he came out here to the midwest, went to an interesting place to get an m.a. at a jesuit school, creighton university up north from us in omaha. he was ordained as a baptist minister and so forth. he thought the church shouldn't be in politics. but the thing about jackson was in chicago he was very much in politics. he was very much aligned with mayor richard daley. he was very much aligned with daley and others because he wanted his people to get jobs. he wanted his people to get things and in schick politics that meant that you had to be aligned with the machine, the daley machine. so while he on the one hand was saying no, i don't want the national baptists to be involved in this civil rights too much, he on the other hand in chicago politics tried to be kind of like a mini political boss. so anyway, by 1960, there's afternoon alt-right battle to take over the convention from jackson. and at the 1961 convention, you see this paragraph, in kansas city missouri down a

grow spiritual, anegro huge collection of music that slaves sang that according to historians, frederick douglassng one of them, the slave was forced to sing so that would signify to the white overseers and to the plantation owner where they were on the plantation. huge collection of original music in the united states sung by the slave had a number of major themes. one of the major themes was from the book of exodus of the bible. go down moses, tell of pharaoh let my people go. that is out of that music the black religious experience has been very different from mainline or majority christian religion in united states. tens of thousands of those songs are available, not in their total form, but in various pieces of poetry and liturgy. so i maintain economic justice is at the heart of slavery religion, which is why the underground railroad, why slaves were constantly getting out of slavery. my own great-great-grandparents, my great-grandfather was an escaped slave into the area of ontario through the underground railroad. so economic justice, social justice, the dignity of every in my is inherent

church, we had plays, re-enacting certain african american historians, george washington carver, frederick douglass about god and to learn about how to be performers at the same time. >> jimmy: did you play george washington carver? >> yeah. >> jimmy: and did peanuts lead you to snoop dogg, snoopy? is there a connection there? >> you know what, jimmy, you may have found the connection to me -- >> jimmy: interesting. [ cheers and applause ] i was listening to the album and you were talking about the devil showing up, while you're continuing to do god's work. do you believe in the devil? >> definitely. >> jimmy: what do you think the devil is like? >> president. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: maybe you have -- you have a vision of heaven, of what heaven may be like? >> oh, wow, i think heaven is a beautiful place. i think it's happiness, i think it's no diseases, no violence, just forever life and everybody loving each other and trying to get to the next day. that's my vision of heaven. >> jimmy: do you think they have pot in heaven? >> i know they do. [ laughter and applause ] >> jimmy: seth roge

frederick douglass reese. he was an american hero, a national treasure, a beloved selma native whose life, fight for voting rights will forever change the fabric of american history. may we all recommit ourselves to the cause he fought for by voting in every election, local, state, and federal. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today in honor of the civil air patrol and the contributions the civilian auxiliary makes to our great nation. they support america's communities with emergency services, d ground youth development in the of air, space, and cyber power. it consists of 1,445 squadrons and approximately 58,000 volunteer youth and adult members nationwide. it is a congressionally chartered and operates as a nonprofit organization. it's made up of eight geographic regions consisting of 52 wings throughout the 50 states, puerto rico, and t

story had nothing to do with cinderella or snow white, they were about sojourner truth and frederick douglass and i learned from my father how to be a writer, a good story had at the center someone who did something transformative, transformed themselves or transformed others. so as i said i have a mother who told me at 12 i was going to write a book and a father who gave me writing lessons, black history lessons every night so when i sat down at the age of 29 to write about my life at the age of 29 it was important for me to document the powerful experience of coming of age in a moment we were asserting identity way beyond black panther. we live in a black panther moment now but if you put it on steroids that is what it would have been like in the 60s and this is a book that spoke beyond race and too many people. my new book is in a whole different realm. it is why government love and it is a story about an african-american family living in washington dc affected by alzheimer's disease and it is a love story but because everything is political, the more i did research about alzheimer's, the

i had no idea how that would work, but i but i imagine it ie same sense that people like frederick douglass, people like martin delaney, people who, my elders and ancestors who resisted saw the importance of having a voice, and instrument to be a voice for the black community and get that out and direct it, and direct it in a resisted way so that consciousness created in the black community could restore that community and build that community. that's what i saw in those programs and that's what i attempted to do, and that's what i've been fortunate enough to see come to pass here. >> why did you leave the black panther party? >> the easiest way, the easiest way to say that is that it was time here that doesn't give you any information. i left the black panther party at a time that the party was transitioning into something else. the interesting thing is i went out to, i serve you in baltimore and i was a defense captain here in baltimore. i went out to california because i probably had about ten people here in baltimore under charges or in jail. i had charges on myself, but bi have people

. >> remember frederick douglass is?or the republican party. >> yeah. >> look, the president wants to believe that he has a great, great record on race relations which is a fallacy and a lie. the republican party hasn't done anything specifically on race if you want to be honest about it. 1964. civil rights act. >> the big news tonight, i want to prompt you on this. he said i've been staying away from the justice department and let them do their thing. that could change. what kind of a threat was that? >> that's the headline. the idea he said i'm staying out of the justice department and let them go on with this. i'm not going to interfere until the day i might. that is a concern. on a day that the senate committee voted through legislation to try to protect the special counsel. the president today sort of dangles a warning like hey, if this goes too far, i might step in. that could mean firing rosenstein or trying to dismiss mueller. that is as always, he says the cloud is hanging over his head. he's dangling the cloud

i would think they were inspired by the writings of frederick douglass and the statue graces the front of the plaza. some of the words are inscribed in the brick of the plaza. a composite nation, and that being a multicultural and multiracial nation. what he said, in this composite nation of ours, under law, there is no high or low. the white or black. there is only a common country. common citizenship. and a common destiny. quartsoned those three because they set the stage. i mention those three quotes, because they set the stage. patriotism,ightened and it is a civic nationalism. defined by aes are common language or common race. a common geography, but to be an american is a matter of heart. it is a state of mind. this fundamental values that define this country and is drawn millions of immigrants around the world to this country. freedom of expression, free press, freedom of association, the right to worship or you want. -- it is a tolerant accepting democracy, regardless if you disagree. there is civility and trust, rather than incivility and distrust that permeates the country to

and self-proclaimed colored friedman in boston, or raters -- orders ors sojourner truth and frederick douglass, and --. this is about 90 minutes. >>

we got really quiet, and he said maybe i cannot turn around because frederick douglass and harriet tubman up. i cannot turn around. maybe [indiscernible] jim farmer, we may disagree on taxes, but we are friends. so they would come to my bedside if i was starving to death, fasting to death. they changed his mood, but we we are going on to memphis. we are going on to washington to [indiscernible] congress' focus. he said will go a step further and said that sanitation workers, they are god's children. if they don't do their work, the surgeons cannot do their operations. they would kill the patient. if they don't do their work, the teachers cannot teach. if they don't do their work, the asthma will kill people. , these valium workers deserve to get their pay and their health care. deserve toworkers get their pay and their health care. he went from a deep depression, to inspiration. and the same three modes jesus went through. from may.s cup pass b, it will be done. came into memphis the next week. came across the courtyard and jose and i took a picture on this balcony. he said, you know we a

do they would appropriate these spaces and have extraordinary freedom celebrations, recite frederick douglassd other leading abolitionists, but to get to the migration point, by the 1880s cities decided they did not like these anymore or could they did not like the public celebration of emancipation to go on especially in a public squares so the city started passing ordinances to push them out and that effectively is what happened here can they push them to another park farther up the peninsula, a less prominent one and then another win in a predominantly african-american neighborhood in and off outside the city and effectively drove them away and he raised them from public memory, so by the early 20th century people didn't even know the nickname of these emancipation celebrations are good they were famously called tuvalu in charleston after the name of a dance that was performed for years and years and years, so it was, well, was a forced migration, not a consensual migration. >> next question comes and starts off, i have mentioned a couple of times and i'm thinking as i read your wonderful

would like to think that both of them were inspired by the writings of over 100 years ago of frederick douglass. and his statue graces the front of hornblake plaza. and some of the words are inscribed in the brick of hornblake plaza, especially his immortal oration, a composite nation, composite being of course the language of that day for a multicultural, multiracial nation. when he said in this composite nation of ours under law there is no high, no low, no white, no black, there's only a common count country, common citizenship, and a common destiny. i mentioned those three quotes because they set the stage. this is a form of nationalism. this is what i call exceptional american nationalism. it's an enlightened patriotism and it is a civic nationalism. other countries are defined by a common language, a common race, a common geography. but to be an american is a matter of the heart. it's a state of mind. it's a commitment to fundamental values that define this country and has drawn millions of immigrants from around the world such as agarwal and me to this country. freedom of expression, fre