you know, john lewis, for example, john lewis was, another nashville student. john lewis went on to become a congressman for 33 years, you know, and john lewis talk specifically about fact that martin luther king jr. brought him from nashville to atlanta on a bus because john lewis having trouble in school and invited him to atlanta. so in 1963, john lewis, the youngest person to speak at the march on washington. and ten years later, he's in congress. so these are kind of things that kind of that legacy that carries on. rodney king got at the age of 39. so he lived a very relatively young life. but his legacy and the people that worked with him and followed him continues now until this day. and it continues through to the young. and as i mentioned, james orange was james orange. his daughter just passed away today. so that's kind of another pillar in that cohort, that whole king legacy that continues to go. yeah and ending on that note on the on the note of legacy may be a good moment to conclude our conversation with with ernest. so everybody join me in thanki

but even if you want to let that slide, the john lewis voting rights act is named after john lewis because it was literally the culmination of john lewis' life's work. herschel walker's version of that history is literally so far off the map it is on another man et. -- planet. this is far from the only time that he got in trouble just by opening his mouth in public. here is an ad that rafael warnock ran this year that is nothing but a clip of herschel walker giving an interview. >> i want to say something that i probably shouldn't. you know right now i have something that can bring me to a real room that would clean you from covid and walk through this. as you walk through the door, it would kill any covid on your body. when you leave, it kills the virus as you leave this here product. they don't want to talk about that. they don't want to hear about that. >> i'm rafael warnock and a prove this message. >> that's the whole ad. claiming he has a dry mist that can kill all of your covid. another time responding to the school shooting in uvalde, texas, walker proposed a department that can lo

john lewis's life work. herschel walker's version of that history is literally so far off the map, it is on another planet. in a distant galaxy. and this was far from the only time that herschel walker got in trouble, despite opening his mouth in public. here is an ad that raphael warnock ran earlier this year that is literally nothing but a clip of herschel walker giving an interview. >> you know, what man, i will say something that i probably shouldn't. do you know right now, i have something that can bring you into a real room that would clean you from covid? as you walk through the door, it would kill any covid on your body, when you leave it would kill the virus. they don't want to talk about that. they don't want to hear about that. >> i am raphael warnock, and i approve this message. >> that's, it that's the whole ad. just herschel walker claiming he has a dry mist that can kill all of your covid. another time, responding to the school shooting in uvalde, texas, walker proposed, quote a department tha

house and increase by two members in the senate so we can do away with these archaic rules and pass john lewis reauthorization act and pass all the things that we need to do we're only playing with , the people and we got to take risks. it is not a competition. we're talking about our, our community health, our community lives, we can do it, but we must do it together. >> derek been around too many black preachers. he said he had two points. that was seven points. [laughter] >> congresswoman, 30 seconds. >> listen, i'm gonna give you a reason to go to the polls and vote. the last administration had one seminal piece of legislation that they passed and it was a tax bill that gave more money to the top -- you know, 80% of the money that was given was given to the top 1% of the population. it helped rich people. this administration has only been in office for two years and i want you to know that we've been busy. we passed the american rescue plan, the american rescue plan to put money in your pocket. it give shots in arms. it also helped our state legislatures. it was important. then we passed t

after all, it was in selma where john lewis and those freedom fighters bled, marched, prayed for the right to vote. the equal right of every american to vote. as john would say, the vote is sacred. very sacred. it is the most powerful nonviolent tool that we have in our democracy, and we must use it, we must use it, but we also know that people are trying to make us lose it. voter suppression is real. i would've never thought that 51 years after the march from selma to montgomery that i would first be a member of congress, but secondly, that the cause for which john lewis and those freedom fighters fought would become our cause as well. there is a systematic effort to dismantle the voting rights act of 1965, and we shouldn't take it sitting down. we have to be out in the streets fighting, and all of our panelists today are experts in voting rights, and more importantly, warriors for voting rights. all of us need to be warriors for voting rights. i think it's not lost on any of us that the very state that brought us the voting rights act of 1965, alabama, is the state that brought us t

if you don't control -- i come back to if you don't control anything, the john lewis voting rights act great idea, freedom to vote act, still fine but what makes democrats think those things will matter. john roberts, he has more help than he did in 2013. if you don't pack the courts you are not taking back anything, the john lewis voting rights act, they passed it and roberts would not be down before breakfast. samuel alito would knock it down, to have voting rights and that is always true since even the passage of the 15th amendment. >> host: thank you. [applause] >> how are we doing? excellent. so please raise your hand, we have a question in the front and another question, sort of mid. >> what got you to go to clemson? >> the question was what got you to go to clemson? >> guest: it was a manhattan law firm where i worked out of law school, what got me to go there, money. not the first person in my family to go to college or graduate school, i bring it up to say when i had my first year's salary that was more money than either of my college-educated parents ever made in a year, more

i was seated next to john lewis.hief justice was there, other senior people from the smithsonian. and in the audience were a who's who. almost every political figure was there, so many people from entertainment and sport. and what i was so moved by is the people who wanted to participate in the program, oprah winfrey and will smith and robert de niro, so that it really became more than i could have ever imagined. it was less an opening of a museum and more a celebration of a culture. david: so were you worried that something would go wrong that day? lonnie: i was terrified. i was terrified that i would mess up, i was terrified that somebody would not enjoy themselves, i was terrified that we wouldn't get the crowds that i hoped, and instead we got tens of thousands of people on the mall. it became an opportunity where i thought, some of the best speechmaking i've ever heard. i thought president bush gave a powerful speech about how a great nation confronts its history, it doesn't run from it. president obama talked,

did john writes lewis at.wis rights act good and let's do that but what makes democrats think that those things are going to matter? if you don't pass the courts you are taking past the john roberts at its apex of voting to write -- freedom to vote act you knock it down. that's always been true that the passage of the 15th amendment. >> thank you. [applause] so andy how are we doing on time? excellent. please raise your hand. we have a question right here in the front and we have another question sort of mid--- what got you to go to -- the question -- for those in the know it was a shoe manhattan law firm which is why worked right out of law school. what got me to go there? money. you have to understand i was not the first person in my college family to go to college work to go to graduate school. i'm very lucky inth that sense. i bring that up to say when they offered me my s first year salay that was more money than either of my college educated parent had ever made in a year, more as the 25-year-old. sacrif

we all remember the story of john lewis who was on the freedom line, and alabama and was beaten withinn inch of his life. susan: the white citizens who were witnesses to these kinds of incidents, there had to be people of good heart who would want to -- who were horrified by it, what presented that in these communities from coming forward and insisting that some justice be done? margaret: in many cases -- i cannot say many. let me not begin counting here. but we uncover cases in which white citizens fought the system. so in one case, out of birmingham, a man who was a sheriff, it was on his day off and you go to the barbershop and gets out of the barbershop and just spending time with his buddies and up black area and a birmingham. and he is shot down by a police officer on the street. the officer tells the story about how he was attacked by the victim and the victim was drunk etc. and so on. and the couple with whom he works, first of all the doctor did an autopsy establishing that the shooting took place that refuted the story, and it was a cold-blooded shooting. somebody stepped up

john lewis, respected late john lewis refused to go to donald trump's inauguration because he thoughtction was stolen. >> raskin. >> and hillary 4 her words not mine. nobody calls them election deniers. hillary's platform never shut down. >> and stacy abrams. >> she's an election denier-denier. [laughter]. >> leo, i'm looking at the race. i'll really worried. i know what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. it's not good. 70 percent of the country is living paycheck to paycheck. it's kill the poor, middle class, people on fixed next and i don't see an end in sight. i don't see these radicals changing. the only way to change the country to change this people that are in the leadership in this country and change direction. it's not going to happen with the people. >> absolutely right. we need a massive red weight now and a massive red weight in 2024. the democrats are doubling down on lies. very three fundamental issues. to me the number one issue is crime. but for those people who are struggling to put food on the table it's the inflation it's the economy and the open borders destro

where would we be if james marietta and john lewis and all the greats of that era, where would they beif they were acting the way that you're acting. >> i think they did -- if you think james meredith and john lewis a did not cry over the way they were treated, if you think they didn't feel humiliated, it's science fiction then. do you think they were humiliated and felt like layers of terror, of course they did. i have an older brother around those folks age going to overwhelmingly white institutions. my sense is they faced with a face with a different evo's then some of ourur students today and some of our students today as far as i'm concerned hasn't been in advance. i want to change the world but i can't think straight if we are in a class talking about james baldwin's work if a white person quotes james baldwin. if a white person quotes james baldwin, t because they want to grant what i don't feel like is being granted to the student with no context for how they come to the word. we are coming out this from different places. i understand the conventional understanding about this g

if you think james meredith and john lewis did not cry over the way they were treated, if you think theyd not feel humiliated this is science fiction. i love science fiction but do you think they were humiliated, they felt layers of terror? of course they did. >> i have an older brother. i have an older brother around those folks age. going to overwhelmingly white institutions. my sense is those pioneers faced what they faced with a different ethos than some of our students today, some of our students today as far as i am concerned, it has not been in advance. the folks, i want to change the world. i want to change the world, but you know what? i can't think straight if we are in a class talking about james baldwin's work if a white person quotes james baldwin. if a white person quotes james baldwin, what is not being granted to this student with no context with how they come to the sentence or the word, in different places, to understand the conventional sort of understanding professors have about this generation of students being less resilient and i don't buy it. we know what being a

why is this an important context to know for the discussions about voter suppression, the john lewis voting rights act and the nomination of the judge brown jackson? >> the voting rights act for the piece of legislation in history bar none. because as i said they ignored the amendment. they adored ofh the 19th amendment as applied to women of color for 50 years without a law or statute that makes the amendment and forcible. the constitutional amendment is just a suggestion soil after the civil war it was a suggestion we let people vote regardless of race in the same way it was a suggestion that we stop people from drinking. similarly it was the voting rights act that made the 15th amendment the thing and it was wildly successful. not only is it the most important piece of legislation in history i could also make the argument it's the most successful piece of legislation. and again i point is simply to the election of a black president 40 years after it was passed, which is an amazing trajectory so what did white conservatives do. they took away the 15th amendmenthe by cutting away th

[applause] and the john lewis voting rights advancement act. i cannot wait. just two more seats. of them right here. two more seats. pennsylvania democrats, we know what we stand for. we know what to fight for. and in this beautiful place that first defined the meaning of freedom and liberty, we have 11 days to fight like we have never fought before. the thing that i know about everyone in this room, when we find, we win. thank you, a god bless you, may god bless america. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are fueled by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> no, it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers so students from low income families can get what they need to be ready for anything. mcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers. >> c-span's washington journal. every day, we are taking your calls, live on the air. we will discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, charlie cook, founder and contributor to the cook political report. th

the john lewis voting rights act, great idea. the freedom to vote act, not as good as h.r. one, but still fine. yeah, let's do that. but what makes democrats think that those those things are going to matter john roberts think go anywhere. he's got more help now than he did in 2013. if you don't take the courts, you aren't taking back they'll pass the john laws that the john lewis voting rights act even if they had mentioned cinema, they pass it and roberts would knock it down before breakfast. they pass the freedom to vote act and samuel alito would knock down before breakfast. you have to take back the court in order to have voting rights, and that's always been true since even the passage of the 15th amendment. thank. so, andy, how did we do on time? what about actual lent? so please raise your we have a question right here in the front and then we have another question sort of mid great on what got to go to dubois. so the question was what got you to go up was so for those in the know so this is one of the was a white shoe manhattan law firm which was where worked right

you called for the freedom to vote act, the john lewis voting rights act, the two voting rights acts a provision to criminalize intimidation of people at the polls. talk to us about the urgency of this moment with what we are seeing out of arizona. >> it's good to be with you as always. i'm in arizona, as you mentioned. when i speak to voters on the ground here, they are fearful. the fear is palpable. let me tell, you it's not a fear of undocumented people crossing the border and coming to the u.s. for a better life. it's a fear that we don't have a democracy. you know, 43% of people in this country are concerned over voter intimidation and other forms of violence at the ballot box. this is part of an organized effort by republicans to intimidate people from voting, people who gave you to be democratic-leaning voters. that has incredible, terrible consequences for our democracy. when folks don't feel comfortable exercising their constitutional right. >> you are in arizona. i've got to ask you, kari lake, the republican far-right election denying candidate, leading the polls for gover

>> i think they did act-- if you think that james meredith and john lewis did not cry over the way theyted, if you think they did not feel humiliated, i mean, this is science fiction then and i love science fiction, but do you think they were humiliated, do you think they felt like, layers of terror? of course they did, right? >> i have an older brother, i have an older brother around those folks' age going to overwhelmingly white institutions. my sense is that those pioneers faced what they faced with a different ethos than some of our students today and some of our students today, as far as i'm concerned, it has not been an advance. i mean, the folks who, you know-- i want to change the world. i want to change the world, but you know what? i can't think straight if we're in a class talking about james baldwin's work if a white person quotes james baldwin. what? if a white person quotes james baldwin, right, because i want to -- i want to grant what i feel what was not granted to this student. with no context for how they come to the sentence or the word. see, we are coming at this fro

in the current state of affairs with the black lives matter what happened to us in the 1960s and john lewis and i were demonstrating, and student non- violence. we were - came by with people with a new slogan, burn baby burn. that undercut and undermine the efforts what we were doing and i saw that predict in just a few months before he passed away the two of us sat in the back of the house chamber and he said that we needed to speak out. we just did not stand by and allow a slogan to kill the black lives matter movement the way that it did in the movement that we were part of back in the 60s and i'm a lawyer and i keep talking about the student movement. you never hear me call it the civil rights movement and is always been a civil rights movement. what was wrong back in the 60s, they were the students of the nonviolence predict the end aa cp, so there's always been it would be the insurrection of 1822 of these things always took place braden i try to put things in the proper perspective so i say to the students keep things in the proper perspective and one of them is he listening. and let

the john lewis voting rights advancement act is sitting in the senate right now waiting for a vote. the freedom to vote act, will protect the right to vote from all people. it is sitting in the senate right now waiting for a vote. that is our duty and responsibility, to allow the people to vote. >> this question is for you, senator rubio, in you wrote in january, the federalist that the democrats push for voting rights is about quote exaggerated problems and fears. can you give us specifics about what you mean by that? sen. rubio: it's never been easier to vote. in florida you can vote by mail for any reason. you can vote 10 days before the election, you can vote on on election day. in georgia, you had record african-american voter turnout. to compare what is happening now to the jim crow era where people were literally murdered and had to pay poll taxes and literacy tests. what are we talking about here? number one, when you go vote and show an id, i have been a hispanic man my entire life, i've never felt like producing my id hurts my right to vote. you can't buy sudafed without a

i if you think meredith and john lewis did not cry over the way they were treated, if you think they did not feel i mean, sam, this is science fiction and i love science. but do you think they were humiliated? do you think they felt like go ahead. layers of tear? of course they did. right. i have an older brother brother. i have an older brother around those folks age. going to overwhelmingly white institutions. my sense is that those. faced what they faced with a different ethos than some of our students today and some of our students today as far as i'm concerned, it is not been in advance. i mean, the folks who, you know, i want to i want to change the world. i want to change the world. but you know what? i can't think straight if we're in a class talking about james baldwin's work, if a white quotes james i what if a white person quotes james baldwin in. right. because i want to i want to grant what i feel like is not being granted to the student with no context for how they come to the sentence or the word. actually, we are coming at this from different places. i understand the

it was at a lunch counter that john lewis, james devil were nearly suffocated. it was at a lunch counter where john was attacked with brass knuckles. were others were attacked with condiments and we're meant this norment was beaten while the jackson police looked on. hear me out on this one. don't you think that kind of like the lunch counters of old, memorials have become new public sites of racial confrontation? just as this man was once beaten at a lunch counter while the police looked on. in 2017, this woman was killed just down the road in charlottesville at a memorial while trump looked on, later proclaiming that there were very fine people on both sides. at charlottesville was exceptional only in its death toll. in the past year and change memorials have become protests sites in richmond, st. paul, washington, d. c., chapel hill, birmingham, st. augustine, benton bill, oxford, dallas, san diego, and seattle. from the gulf of mexico to the canadian border and from the atlantic to the pacific, memorials have emerged as the new go two sites of racial activis

from john lewis to john glenn. all the to the 36 members we commemorate today. this tiny right now. but history will be here for generations of family and friends to visit as they remember their loved ones and hope you'll have time to see it while you're here. it is situated on the house side of the capitol as you make your way down hill. it's across the street from the entrance to the rayburn office building, and we hope you have a chance to visit again behalf of fmc. welcome. and it is now my pleasure to recognize the family's president, former representative from virginia ellis payne, for opening remarks. thank you very. and thank all of for being here with us this afternoon. my name is left payne and. i had the honor of serving with of the people whose lives are remembering today. i represented the fifth congressional district of virginia in the house of representatives, and now i have the privilege of representing about 800 former senators, house members as part of the association of former members of congress, of which i am the president on their. i want to welcome the familie

people see the john lewis buses. they honk on the freeways at us. honk as we roll because people get the message. they're so happy to see 70 saying "vote" in a positive way, not about candidates, just the fact they are americans and the fact that we care and love a democracy that demands we participate that we vote. amy: kimberlÉ crenshaw, you are in georgia, the other key race is the rematch between the longtime voting rights activist stacey abrams and brian kemp, the governor, for the governorship of georgia. the significance of this race and you are visiting these sites of white supremacist terror from the mother emanuel church in charleston, south carolina, to talk about the places that you have been. >> we visited wilmington, which is a site of racial coup in 1898. one of the reasons that was so significant -- amy: in north carolina. >> yes. when we had the january 6 attempted coup, there were a lot including our president who said this is not we are. it is evidence of the fact that when our history has been erased, we don't know that we are he

john lewis for devote act, the dash cam very close. it did not get across the finish line because the filibuster. i thinks that what congress needs to do to fix our problems. maybe not all of them. that would be alive. -- a lie. >> just to be clear. the gist of the electoral vote act would be to make clear the vice president does not have the power to come in and say yes or no we excepted do not accept. >> it provides clarity on what happens if somebody challenges -- provides more procedural clarity for how to address things going wrong. >> further questions? >> maybe a bit peripheral. i was reading something that was making an argument that paper ballots on a large-scale my be preferable to the electronic systems as a means of helping ensure the people that trust in the outcome. a what is your perspective? >> i think as a matter of election security it is good to have either paper ballots, or a paper trail. there are accessibility reasons why we need to provide electronic systems. for voters with disabilities. and we can have electron

frederick douglass said it, john lewis says it.mandela said it, they all said without we speech as john lewis said it t would have been bird wings, i think that message iss being lost. i think we are losing that battle internationally. >> to be essentially in odemocracies, i think a lot of pstates where they face censorship and repression, they intuitively get free-speech restrictions on them more than anyone else the idea prominent unfortunately -- i don't know the best way to counter it. hopefully a historical approach is part of the solution but look at europe, free-speech in hungary and poland are used against the lgbtq plus community and that should tell you something. look at the history in the uk when they adopted this law to protect minorities from hatred, the first person convicted was blackte britain who had said something about why people were white politicians were not prosecuted, it created more but you also see hate speech laws, more categories being protected and you will see the troops were used as a weapon against

into action as a tortured body on the pages of jet magazine or as a turning point in the life of john lewis. we know as his mother mamie till mobley has said that he did not die in vain. but if the reverend parker were here tonight, he would remind us that for all we know about till since 1955. we have lost the joyful obscurity of those first 14 years. and so in what follows i'm going to give you a glimpse into the long and dramatic afterlife of emmett till. my talk is not so much a biography of the boy. for that you'd need the reverend parker. as it is a biography of his story because for 66 and a half years people have been telling till story. or ignoring it. or bending it. or selling it. you might know what happened to emmett till in 1955 and if you don't it's fine. i'll bring you up to speed. but you might not know that the way you might not know the ways that his story has been suppressed altered and sold. since 1955 suppressed altered and sold those three key verbs are at the heart and core of the biography. of emmett till's story because time and again. the chance to make a buck has

you know, john lewis, for example, john lewis was, another nashville student. john lewis went on to become a congressman for 33 years, you know, and john lewis talk specifically about fact that martin luther king jr. brought him from nashville to atlanta on a bus because john lewis having trouble in school and invited him to atlanta. so in 1963, john lewis, the youngest person to speak at the march on washington. and ten years later, he's in congress. so these are kind of things that kind of that legacy that carries on. rodney king got at the age of 39. so he lived a very relatively young life. but his legacy and the people that worked with him and followed him continues now until this day. and it continues through to the young. and as i mentioned, james orange was james orange. his daughter just passed away today. so that's kind of another pillar in that cohort, that whole king legacy that continues to go. yeah and ending on that note on the on the note of legacy may be a good moment to conclude our conversation with with ernest. so everybody join me in thanki

lewis john lewis respected mans re john lewis marched with mlk. he refusedo ttoo go to donaldsn trump's inauguration because he thought the election was stolen. 25% of democrats didn't sto go because they thought they were asking. and we and hillary for >> the entirety of president trumpy presidency refer to him as illegitimate and said the election was stolen. her word wor, not mine.m elec and nobody calls them election deniers. and hillary's platform has never been shut down.t and stacey abrams, stacey abrams, stacey abrams abram is denying that she she denied the election. >> so she had an election, deny >> leon elecy. >> leo, i'm looking atworr the race. i'm really worried. i know what it's like to wha live paycheck to paycheck. it's not it's not good. and 70 percent od.f the countryo itw is living paycheck to paycheck. >> right. you know, it's killing the poo'd middle class people on fixed income. and i don't see an endt iand nh t because i don't see these radicals changing. the only way to changepl the country is to change a the people that

john lewis with whom i was lucky to serve in the congress had the saying, we all got here in a differenthip at a different time. but today we find ourselves in the same boat. your family may have come here 15,000 years ago. we should remember we are standing on indigenous and native lands now. -- indigenous native lands now. your families may have been kidnapped in africa, brought here against their will and in bondage, forced to build the wealth and excess of the state without ever -- success of the state without partaking in the benefit. your family like mine, may have come in the 19th century fling famine in arlen. a million lives were claimed in that country. they came to the one place in the planet who would take them in. those coming from haiti and el salvador and honduras, are part of the same tradition that made this country great in the first place. all i ask is we meet to this opportunity with common sense and some common values. we say, look, you want to come to this country? follow our loss. but on our end, we will make sure our laws, follow our interests and needs. it will b