james baldwin, of course. shakespeare, of course. john killings. books meant to as much to me. spent seven years of my life as a mute. but i read. i read everything. and i memorized everything. so many writers i just -- it's -- and they still inform my life. >> books not only helped her gain her voice but transformed her past, encouraged by her good friend james baldwin he ask wrote her first novel, the u toe biographical "i know why the caged bi caged bird sings" in 1968. since then she's written everything from poems to children's books to cookbooks. in 1992, her poetry reached millions of americans at president bill clinton's inauguration. >> across the wall of the world of river things sings a beautiful song and it says, come, rest here by my side. >> and while her writing continues to inspire audiences of all generations, her impact doesn't end there. you spent your life helping others, reaching out, supporting and including me. why do you do that? what motivates you inside? with your celebrity status that you feel you still need to reach back? >> i owe it to another perso

and i think that authenticity connected her with malcolm x, martin luther king, james baldwin and soy other people who made change. >> you of course shared that experience of writing for and ri citing at inauguration. i wonder did you ever talk to her about it. did you share that experience with her? >> well, an extraordinary thing happened. i never hit prif lige of meeting her but a faw weeks of before the inaugural after it had been announced to write the poem, she found me and called me. and the moment i heard that voice on the phone before she even said her name, i knew that voice, i knew who it was, and we proceeded to have a very beautiful conversation which i think for her had a sense not only of kindness, i was in the those of doing something that seemed impossible, writing that poem. but also a sense of history, a sense of continuity. and a sense that as an elder it was for her to make that at any time. i asked her at the end of the conversation if she was going to come to the inaugust ram to washington and she said oh no, she laughed. she said i've done that i'm going stay

she is good friend of james baldwin. she also eventually wrote books. and was an extraordinary book. a real insight. up to where she is at today. she never stopped teaching. when she walked we followed. when she wrote we read. when she performed we listened. we are all inspired by this voice. >> one of the great tributes at the fact that considering her full and vibrant life. it is difficult to summon up with one title. other than renowned public redder and freedom fighter. >> half a group of chicago all the monterrey's the minimum wage to the third highest in the nation. albans also discussing the regulation of gun shops within city limits. the city council quite a packed agenda today. >> the ordinance king introduced in council today would require gun dealers to videotape customers at the point of sale. security requirements for dealers and stores could only open in very limited pockets of the city. the ordinance would be pushed to committee and likely will not come up for a vote until next month. labor activists are hoping for faster action in raisin

one meets james baldwin. one needs billie holliday, martin luther king, malcolm x. >> francis william. >> francis william is a favorite of mine. she took me into her home and showed me her back yard theater and a place that she built writing workshops and she taught me what a person who believes in art does for the community and it is a community project. also i'm thrilled to find paul marshall who is one of my favorite writers. how important do you think it is for a young writer to be familiar with, to work with the minds of his or her time? >> i think it's important. i think the writer must always be founded in the language in which he is working. so it is wise to have a foundation in the great writers of yesteryear. the writer should be familiar with the english writers, and with the translations of dostoyevsky and balzac. read the writers who write in english a certain language. in america willie soyinka the nigerian nobel prize winner red are taught via paz. i would dance if my knee wasn't giving me trou

it was in 1969 that she was encouraged by the author james baldwin, among others, to focus on her writing. thus was born "i know why the caged bird sings," her first of seven autobiographies and the phenomenal career for which she is known around the world. maya angelou was also an award-winning people's poet. this is maya angelou in her own words as she reads one of her most celebrated homes, "still i rise." >> you may write me down in history with your twisted lies. you may tread me in the very dirt but still, like dust, i'll rise. does my sassiness upset you? why are you beset with gloom? 'cause i walk like i've got oil wells pumping in my living room. just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, just like hopes springing high, still i'll rise. did you want to see me broken? bowed head and lowered eyes? shoulders falling down like teardrops. weakened by my soulful cries. does my haughtiness offend you? don't you take it awful hard 'cause i laugh like i've got gold mines diggin' in my own back yard. you may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may

she was an artist that wrote, she was friends with james baldwin and tony morrison, and many of the otherte intellectuals and artists of our time. she struck compact with other elite intellectuals, to confront bigotry of whatever face and form it took. she was a devout, if you will, supporter of marriage equality. and she didn't believe in bigotry in any form. and she resisted it. and she also, as an artist, inspired so many others. tupac shakur named one of his songs, "still i rise" a of the great poem, "still i rise," that nelson mandela read at his own inauguration. she was an incredibly eclectic woman who brought them all together. >> the "still i rise" poem, that poem to me can't capture something essential about what was so remarkable about her spirit and her work, was the combination of, she is angry in that poem, and she is letting her oppressors have it. and all those things together, i think, part of what made her such a compelling figure. >> that's a great point. she was graceful in the midst of the gritty situation she confronted and the distinction she made to dave chappelle

damion eckles, and jesse kelly and james baldwin, and they say that the boy was killed as part of a satan. the three were kept behind bars for two decades, but recently they were released because of evidence that was not belonging to the men. and in this account "devil's knot," it is the juxtaposition of stevie branch, and crystal buyers of losing a child. >> we are doing everything that we can to find him. >> my son is 8 years old. >> we have three boys missing from the holiday garden. >> it is a delicate situation. >> i am by the creek called devil's den and i have found something. >> no! >> well, joining me now is the director of the film adam egoan. and you have seen the documentary on the memphis th e three, and you got this script and opportunity, and was it something that you could not walk away from? >> yes, it is the most compelling story, and the most gruesome and mysterious murder mystery. three boys found bound with shoelaces, and murdered with no footprints or branches, and leaves not touched, and so supernatural and for this to be happening in a town that was very religious,

james baldwin spoke at the role of the writer in america conference in 1960 at san francisco state college. he said, quote, a country is only as strong as the people who make it up and the country turns into what the people want it to become. this country is going to be transformed. it will not be transformed by an act of god but all of us, you and me. i didn't believe we could afford to say it is entirely out of our hands. we made the world we living in and we have to make it over. the language of publishing is will be argued to talk about this afternoon, economics, technology, cultural ascetics, creativity. just like anywhere else in the world, in your home, in my home all publishing houses have their own cultural values and norms, cultural messaging going on all over the tests place. are we paying attention? can we go with the flow and the flexible? what do we bring to the mix? how do we see ourselves in this industry. do you know who you are? are you grounded enough to hold onto your foundation while the landscape shifts all around you and through you? we have lots of work to do on man

obviously, james baldwin famously said i love america, that gives me the right to criticize her, right? but that point being, so if we recognize the limitations of representative democracy in the sense that we elect people that we may not be able to trust, you know, two months later or three months later or maybe inserting their own agenda at times, where should we go? is that power now shifting to the academics when there was a time, you know, you mentioned that whole idea of, look, there i us with in that heat, i did that, but we all speak about this changing of the culture. i don't, i personally -- and maybe this is my own choice -- don't believe that it could happen within our current representative democracy, you know, system of political power. granted, you know, you guys are saying naacp, all these things happen, we need to keep fighting for these, but we are continuing to be pushed back by these laws or these voter oppression things. where should we shift the at all possible as as opposed to relying solely on the political -- >> all right. who wants to take a swing at that firs

but every year i try to read "why the caged bird sings" and i read "price of a ticket" by james baldwinple who are just two literary giants -- i try to read a couple books, the same books over every year because it reminds me what it is to be a great writer and what it is to be a great person. maya angelou is this. i also collect vinyl. i have a vinyl album by maya angelou when she sang "cal lip sew." she's done so many things from broadway to being the first woman ever to read a poem -- do you remember "on the pulse of morning," when she did that for president clinton. it was one of the first times that people would say, i thought a poem was supposed to rhyme. i think the larger culture found out about maya angelou, not that she needed to be found out, but to oprah winfrey -- she was oprah's mentor and she would be on the oprah show all the time giving such great wisdom. this is indeed an incredible loss. i'm shocked to wake up this morning to hear it and saddened. >> charles, i want you to look at maya angelou's last tweet. it came on may 23rd. she tweeted listen to yourself, in that

when james baldwin dared her to put her life on paper, she gave us "i know why the caged bird sings."dozens of honorary degrees and became the most popular professor on the campus of wake forest. but we loved her not merely for her literary gifts her poetic genius. we didn't love her because she was an amazing artist, blessed by god with gifts galore. we loved dr. angelou because her suffering did not define her. while it easily could have, it was never who she was. it was a part of who she was. she spent so much of her life acquiring wisdom and sharing it. when you learn, teach. when you get, give. when you know better, you do better. and my favorite, love recognizes no barriers, it jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. we will miss you, dr. maya angelou. >> mr. melvin, i want to do the right thing. i want to stand on the right foot. i want, when i meet my creator, that he or she, maybe speaking in spanish, i don't know, will say, you've done well. i sent you to do something, and you've done well. i make a lot of purchases for my bus

baldwin: thank you. i rise this afternoon to urge my colleagues to confirm james peterson for the united states district court of the western district of wisconsin. and i want to start where my colleague left off which is to state that i am proud to have worked with senator johnson to put in place a nonpartisan federal commission and to process moving judicial nominations forward because the people of wisconsin deserve to have experienced and highly qualified judges working for them. and they deserve to have judicial vacancies filled on a timely basis. addressing vacate federal judgeships in wisconsin has been a top priority of mine since i was sworn in to the senate last year. i want to thank senator johnson for work to go find common ground with me on this very important issue for wisconsin. together we believe that james peterson will be an outstanding federal district judge, and his experience, qualifications and expertise will serve the western district of wisconsin and our nation very well. james peterson was among those recommended by our nominating commission, and together senator johnson and i