john singleton. he does a portrait of paul revere one day and another day he does a portrait of the british commander of the redcoats in boston and there's a wonderful little story. before the revolution in the right against the existing governors come his name is bernard thereby it spills out into the halls of harvard and there is a portrait of bernard in one of the halls, and one of the rebels gets on somebody's shoulders i guess and he cuts the section out of the portrait that would have been where the heart was if he had initially being and he says i've taken bernard's part. well, harvard calls on john singleton to repair the portrait since he had painted. he shows and repairs and from then on his a marked man, and he leaves the country before the revolution starts and becomes a member of what is called a loyalist club in london. thomas alves the author of several books including remember valley forge and spy master. for more information about author and his book, visit toriesfightingfortheking.c

john singleton. what is spike doing? who is writing those stories where are the black writers? the biggest actor in the world is a black dude. tavis: big willie? does that mean that we are lazy on our game or that 10 years after halle and denzel win the oscar and mr. poitier wins a lifetime achievement. three black folks on the stage at the same time. the "new york times" points out there ain't nothing really happening since then in terms of opening up the game. is that us being lazy on our game or the business of hollywood still not opening up given that moment and even with a black president, the numbers are clear. it is easier to be the president of the united states. it is easier this year for a black man to be president of the united states than it is to get on stage at the academy awards. >> let's keep it real. the most important word you used in this that sentence is business. we cannot show up with a script that has a $20 million budget and denzel ain't in it. the studio ain't going to get that money back. that is bad business but at the end of the day, we can make inde

>> guest: john singleton copley was one of the greatest painters of the late 18th century.he was part of a loyalist family and ended up, you know, he certainly wasn't through all of his career. a painter found little consolation in a e republican country. he found much more business in england. >> host: gary in illinois, we only have a minute or two left. >> caller: eventually, i'll have my 15 minutes of fame if i get through to your wonderful show. i read a book called "america the possible: how and why our constitution should be rewritten" twice over the years, but not having a great memory, i can't summarize it for you. i wonder if you know about that. plus, a book that's rather controversial, looked upon through the eyes of liberals and conservatives by howard zinn. >> guest: i don't know the first book, and i will confess although i understand howard zinn's history is very popular, mea culpa, i have never really read it. >> host: dr. maier, as a textbook clerk, i literally handled copies of your first two titles. in my own words, we are not actually guaranteed life, li