professor and ask why there are no black writers on the syllabus, where is richard wright or langston hughes or james baldwin, you would probably be told that they were not worthy of inclusion on a college curriculum. students really had to fight they have enriched american higher education and led to a transformation in american intellectual life my transformation and knowledge production and a college teaching ethnic studies and latino studies. ♪ -- >> host: in your book you address some of the critiques of african-american studies and ethnic studies as not being intellectually vigorous. >> guest: and deferred -- when they won the demands and one after the 1st the student starting by negotiation and meetings and trying to do research and to demonstrate to the faculty and demonstrate to administrators this was an appropriate area of inquiry. but in light of foot dragging and a lack of change students decided in the late 1960s it was time to escalate the tactics. they engaged in direct action protest, the classic form of protest. they went on strike, occupied buildings, organize demonstratio

but he was angry with langston hughes. >> okay. i'd like to ask, you know, it seems like every day somebody finds a missing manuscript from ian fleming or from tennessee williams or something, from beethoven. [laughter] this is such a fantastic story that you would think his relatives or ebony magazine or somebody would have been knowledgeable enough about this, you know, all these years. why do you think that nothing ever happened? >> well, he, as his family evolved and descended, there really was only the grandson who might have done that. and he always wanted it done. and i just happened to be the person who made the phone call. i never did ask him why didn't you seek out a writer before. i'm going to see him tomorrow, and i'm going to ask him. [laughter] >> in those early years when tamny was such a power house, did he have any involvement with them? did they care about promoting his career? because they certainly reached out to the african-american community for votes. >> yes. this is a little bit of a complicated story. the -

professor and ask why there are no black writers on the syllabus, where is richard wright or langston hughes or james baldwin, you would probably be told that they were not worthy of inclusion on aollcuul >> >> but i think that all disciplines in the liberal arts have that impacted for the better. >> you address some of the critiques lot:dash an african-american studies. >> with this doo-doos first learn these demands first the students started just by negotiations and medium is and trying to do research to demonstrate this was an appropriate area of inquiry but in light of foot dragging and a lack of change the students the tactics. they engaged in direct action protest, the classic form of protest. they went on strike, occupied buildings, organize demonstrations. because this was a time in american society where we had summer after summer after summer of serious urban unrest many college administrators were nervous. what we found is that what i found in my research is that they granted this concession and said we will give you an ethnic studies program and did not mean that they actually t

of, those of you who grew up reading the langston hughes as i do remember he may take years in a defense plant and he did hard physical labor. the health issue is tied to the kind of work people do. i'm retired professor -- professor. i'm in good health but i didn't do hard physical labor. most people of color to really hard physical labor and their worn-out a lot sooner so that the efforts to raise the social security beyond 65 because they want to do that because they think people are living healthy and later. but not all people are living longer. not all people are living healthier. i thought that was an important point to make because that's another area of inequality. just people being worn-out through how they have to earn their living. i just wanted to add that. >> so vesla can you work on citizenship and criminal justice. how do you do your research? how have you seen the relationship between wealth inequality and -- >> i mean, i think we were talking a financial instrument earlier. one of the biggest things that is not on the public radar. it is not a political savings right now

i was taught that by langston hughes.just kept getting happier and yet i was still writing, and writing well. musicians and painters and writers who thought they had to suffer for their art, but i have found as i've gotten older, it is not the case. they asked the dalai lama the question and he did not even understand the question. charlie: most great artists have told me, they say it is hard work. don: writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. to finish a great work, you might get an epiphany. after that, you sit down and sweat it out. it is hard work. exercisedhy i get so about people who steal songs, they have no idea the work that goes into it. the work that goes into it. it is a real job, not a hobby. it is a calling and a lot of people do it for a living who don't get to tour. the people in nashville and los angeles who are just songwriters. they make their money solely from that song. now of course, we have the interactive crowd who go in and think they can take a song and change it up. djs, people who sampl

effects were still everywhere, and they were able to reconnect with school friends cab callaway and langston hughesalloway music) ♪ hey now, hey now! jose anderson: you had a group of african-american professionals, a group of african-american creative people from which houston and marshall could draw encouragement from the whole post-harlem renaissance era, and so that community actually helped to energize momentum for the legal campaign across the entire country. jose anderson: new york was an exciting place to be the headquarters for the campaign. in fact new york had plenty of race issues of its own. thurgood marshall: after a riot would break in harlem a code number would go out to all policemen in the 123rd street precinct - that's right in the middle of harlem. in the meantime all of the white policemen in harlem, where the riot is going on, just stand perfectly still. and don't use a weapon, don't use a gun, just stand there until you're repled. and then these guys go out in these other cars, and the colored fella taps the white fella on the shoulder, he gets in the car. and it about, well

i was taught that by langston hughes who believed that.aid i got happier, and i was still writing well. i knew painters and musicians and writers who thought they had to suffer for their art. they asked the dalai lama the question and he didn't even answer the question. >> rose: because he clearly believed it was contentment. >> yeah. >> rose: most great artists have told me, the majority who have come to this table, many, many great artists, they said it's hard work. >> someone once said writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. that's true. to finish a great work, you might get an epiphany or a great idea may come to you in the middle of the night and you say, this is great and start writing, and you only have this much. then after that, you sit down and sweat it out, and it is hard work, which is why i get so, you know, exercised about people stealing songs because they have no idea the work that goes into the songs and that it's a real job. it's not a hobby. it's a calling. >> rose: it's a calling. it's a calling and a lot of pe