this trunk was owned by george garrison who was the son of the abolitionist william lloyd garrison. he served in the 55th massachusetts which was the companion unit to the more famous 54th. and i think that being able to make sure that we're telling the full richness of the story from variety of perspectives this kind of trunk allows us to do just that. not only is it a historically significant trunk, but it's to use the scholarly term, pretty cool. and so to get a sense of thinking about army life, what you could put in here, you in essence put in all of who you are, your belongings, your clothing, and this is what you carry with us. so this is a great case that's going to allow us to help people really understand a lot about what life was like during a civil war era. this story of the african-american experience is both a story of resiliency, achievement, but it's also a story of struggle. and one of the hard parts of exploring this history is that often the people who were at the worst tended to be other americans. so that makes it hard to interpret this because americans aren't

not as william lloyd garrison would later do because it was packed with slavery and a further continuation of slavery, but because to these men it undermined everything for which they had fought in the american revolution. and so it was a very appropriate thing to do on the fourth of july, burned that which threatens the country should achievement at that time. in fact, of course this year was one of profound controversy. i mean, these are only modest examples of it. and of intense excitement. the debate over the constitution was the event of the year. in the newspapers were full of articles about the constitution. one observer in new england said that the people there were reading the newspapers and all the literature on the constitution more than they read the bible. and that was saying something in the land of the puritans. when the conventions met in state after state they often faced precisely the same problem, where would he find a hall big enough to contain, not only the delegates, but the throngs of people who wanted to hear the debate. this was the event of the year. why all this

there's many examples of progressive white americans who stood against this -- of course, william lloyd garrison and his liberator, men examples of those who toad against the tide, but unfortunately not enough. so we developed a white racial narrative in america that lives to this day, even though it's gotten better thanks to what happened in the '70s, but still a long way to go. so we tried to tell how the system got constructed. how the importance that race has played throughout american history and the development of the white racial narrative and the counternarrative of people of color for more democratic media system. and we have tried to get the lessons that are valuable for now. because unfortunately, with all the great promise of the internet, some of the same kind of racial inequities that existed in newspapers and radio, in television, and in cable, we feel are all really being replicated on the internet in terms of enough sites and who owns these new sites, who gets hired to work on these new sites, and whose new sites get traffic and which ones don't, and unless we're more vigilant,

and if it wasn't for frederick douglass and harriet tubman, william lloyd garrison, so many others, they say, you know what? 2007 all of this -- given all of this ridge that's surfacing -- rage that's surfacing just like in the occupy movement, you can either go toward anger, revenge, bigotry or toward love, justice and equality. that has been the fundamental role of the black prophetic tradition from frederick douglass to a. phillip randolph to ida w. wells bar net to ella baker to martin luther king jr. to stevie wonder. i know his music was playing when we came in. [applause] how is it that when these black people who have been terrorized and traumatized and stigmatized for so long, hated for so long keep dishing out all of this love? that's a fundamental question. that's what i love about carl dix. y'all might look at him and see just a communist. i look at him and see a black man who loves poor people and working people, and he's working out his alternative vision, and he's been true to it for the last 45 years. and even if i disagree with x and y, i can keep track of the love. [app

there wasn't for frederick douglass, harriet tubman, william lloyd garrison, so many others that you know what, given all of this raise that's everything, just like in occupying the land, a fork in the road go towards anger, revenge, picardy or goes to a love, justice and equality. that has been a fundamental role of the plot prophetic tradition from frederick douglass toa philip randolph to ida b. wells or penny lou hammond or alice baker two might make king junior, to stevie wonder. i knew it was his plan it was his plan when they came in. how is it that when this by people who have been terrorizing and chama ties and stigmatize for so long, hated for so long keep dishing out all of this love. but the fundamental question or that's what i love about carl dix. you all might look and see just the communists. i see a black man who has poor people and working people in a smirking at his alternative vision and he's been true to it for the last 45 years. even if i disagree, i can keep track of the love that's what we need to do to each and everyone of us because if you have courage comin