this is maya angelou's remarkable real life. velshi banned book club, the doctor imani perry. she's a professor of african american studies at harvard university and the author of the national book award, winner of south to america, a journey below the mason-dixon to understand the soul of a nation. dr. perry, it is good to see you. thank you for being with us yet again. you have been a frequent guest of ours here because when we cannot introduce an interview, some of these great authors, because they're no longer with us, you are our best choice. you have studied these people, you have honored them so, thank you for joining us to discuss the enduring relevance of this book. i know why the caged bird sings and maya angelou's enormous legacy. welcome back. >> thanks for having me, what a gorgeous introduction. very wonderful. >> you know, most of us know maya angelou as this great success. in her life. does reading i know why the caged bird sings through that lens affect the book? because when she wrote this book, she was not who

. >> maya angelou said if you don't like something, change it. if you cannot change it, change your perspective. >> we are the ones who are saying this is who we are, this is why we matter, this is what we want you to understand. we are writing stories for us. >> guys, i know we have a lot of work to do and this bench needs to go over there. >> but we just moved it over here. >> don't question my authority, thanks! >>> we talk about race and culture in serious ways. that is important. discussing these things in a sitcom, you are not offensive. you are able to take in new ideas. >> the family was doing something that nobody had ever done. >> we are talking about having one of the biggest bigots in america and having a black man coming to his house. >> you see my daughter gloria standing over there and her husband mike? >> it was electrifying! >> i was tangling the whole time. >> he is sitting there going -- >> you are watching kind of a master class in reflecting humanity. >> it was revolutionary in a lot of ways. all in the family change the way

. - i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your perspective." (girl screams) (fire extinguisher hisses) (audience laughs) - we are the ones who are saying, "this is who we are. this is why we matter. this is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here. - oh, don't question my authority. thanks. ♪ archie: guess what famous and important personality i carried as a passenger in my cab today? randall park: we talk about race and culture in serious ways. that's important. randall park: discussing these things in a sitcom, you're not defensive. you're able to kind of take in new ideas. archie: i'll give you another hint. bongo bongo bongo. meathead: well he's either desi arnaz or knowing you he's probably black. helen hunt:

- i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your perspective." (girl screams) (fire extinguisher hisses) (audience laughs) - we are the ones who are saying, "this is who we are. this is why we matter. this is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here. - oh, don't question my authority. thanks. jefferies: it's amazing that there was a time when what you said could get you locked up in prison. i actually accrued a reputation for being irreverent. yes, sir, it's a sticky wicket. i cuss gratuitously, but subject matter's another story. this is going to be a good show. are there any subjects that are never appropriate for humor? ferguson: people say a good comedian doesn't have to cuss. and i thought, "that's [bleep] rubbi

. - i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change itones who are saying, "this is who we are. this is why we matter. this is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here. - oh, don't question my authority. thanks. jefferies: it's amazing that there was a time when what you said could get you locked up in prison. i actually accrued a reputation for being irreverent. yes, sir, it's a sticky wicket.

. - i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change its is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here.

. >> maya angelou said if you don't like something, change it.ies for us.

. - i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change itng, "this is who we are. this is why we matter. this is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here. - oh, don't question my authority. thanks. ♪ jensen: it's a time of enormous turmoil. shut up in here. the '60s are over dad. durham: here's michael at the foul line, a shot on ehlo. -good! -yeah! ha-ha! turner: we intend to cover all the news all the time. we won't be signing off until the world ends. isn't that special? any tool for human expression will bring out the best

there are luminaries like poet maya angelou. >> i'm not speaking to blacks and blacks alone, or talland there are rising stars, like a young barack obama. >> who would you say has influenced you most in your life? >> richardson interviewed him when he was an illinois state senator. >> not just dr. king or malcolm x, but bob moses, and fannie lou hamer, and -- rosa parks. >> think about this. this is, like, 2001. by 2008 he's president of the united states. it's extraordinary. >>> extraordinary is a good way to describe the breadth and depth of the collection. >> you want to hear something real crazy? >> yes. >> not long before he died, bass-baritone william warfield gave an impromptu performance in german while recounting his vienna performance of showboat that brought down the house. >> everybody who sees this is sort of enthralled. >> julieanna richardson says, as a child, all she knew of black history was that her great grandfather had been enslaved. she grew up in a predominantly white ohio town and told us when she was 9, she was the only black student in her class. >> you had n

i'm the dream, to paraphrase mayaing an lue -- maya angelou. i am the dream and the hope of the slave. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. grothman is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. grothman: thank you. we won't keep you here for 60 minutes. there are a couple of issues i think that have dominated the discussion the last couple of weeks, or should have dominated the discussion, that i think deserve a little bit of attention today. i'm going to address one more time our crisis at the southern border. i'm a little bit afraid that as the weeks and months roll on, people are being accustomed to what is going on at the southern border. but as with every tragedy that happens in our society if a tragedy happens every week or every month, we ought to talk about it every month. how recently the biden administration changed the way we allow people from certain countries, cuba, haiti, one of the centra

i often say i rise in the spirit of maya angelou. i rise with the notion that i bring the gifts our ancestors gave. i'm the dream and hope of the slave. that doesn't apply to me personally, but generally speaking to people of my ethnicity. my race. i rise today with this heavy heart because of something that has haunted me since i saw some many weeks ago. something that haunted me to the extent i returned to my office after having seen it and called it to the attention of my staff. and i had a good deal of consternation in terms of how to respond and react to what i saw. so permit me to share this vignette with you and a bit of commentary thereafter. while visiting a local facility, a store in the area, i will not announce the name of the business, i can if i have to but i choose not to today. while i was there for business purposes, i saw children come in. and these children i'm going to guesstimate, 5 to 10. they came in the main entrance. they proceeded to move over to my left, their right as they came in. and they had bags. and t

. - having maya angelou on-- i mean, where would you have seen her otherwise?eld her hand and squeezed it tight. jump back, honey, jump back." - he didn't just have black people on his show. [audience cheering] but if you were hip, you wanted to be on "arsenio." - this is something that i heard a political analyst talking about recently. he said you kind of were-- i used the word "chilling out." he said you were pulling back a little bit. you've been instructed not to say as much or be as outspoken. no? - i don't--i've heard that, but i never know who says it. i think it's wishful thinking on the part of some people. - [laughs] hmm. guess who suggested to bill to do "the arsenio hall show" if you wanna get a younger demo. hill dog. - [playing "heartbreak hotel" on saxophone] ♪ ♪ - he attracted a lot of people who weren't fans before that night. ♪ ♪ - the '90s was a glorious moment for black television, because you saw these representations that you'd never seen before. ["yo home to bel-air" by dj jazzy jeff & the fresh prince] the premise of "the fresh prince"

it was maya angelou who once said, when people show us who they are, believe them the first time. last week congressman crane showed the republican party's true colors and their agenda. it is plain as day. to see that their roots and what they're trying to push us back to is in a day and age when racism and white supremacy actually led the way. their attacks on d.e.i. is astonishing and an attempt to roll us back into the, the dark and gloomy days of the united states when we didn't embrace and see each other as equals. as we stand here today, not only should these words be stricken but every member of this body should stand in alliance with the congressional black caucus to denounce these terms and to never -- and vow to never return back to the day and age when we saw black people as less than or colored people as less than. mr. jackson: it is now my privilege to yield to the honorable sheila jackson lee from the great state of texas. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman very much. i thank both the gentleman from illinois and the gentlelady from florida for their consistent an

remember the wisdom of maya angelou when someone tells you who they are over and over and over again.we start the hour with our experts and friends. amy mcgraph is back. also, ben rhodes is here and former senator, claire mccaskill is back with us. amy, i feel like you flagged this issue for us many months ago and put his kmipgs in great context. tell us where we are, where he is impacting our standing around the world. >> you laid it out pretty good. we don't have one going forward. we deserve and need a leader. the u.s. naval academy doesn't have a superintendent right now. there are numerous commands and units around the world who don't have a command. it's the impact on the troops below is significant. you can't say you support the troops then play political games that get in the way of their promotions and pay. and you know, when you say it's just one senator, yes, that's true. but look at all of the republican senators who are basically silent right now. can you imagine if during the last administration elizabeth warren or bernie sanders were to hold up military pay and promotio

angels. >> seth: oh, yeah. >> and it was me and octavia and viola davis and maya rudolph who before she went off to do that showk it worked out. [ laughter ] >> but yeah, we all met on that show and bonded. and, you know, from there, like, that trust grew. so, when she hit me and was like, "i have a great opportunity for you to join season 3 of 'truth be told', but it's some really tough material. but i think you are uniquely prepared for this. and when i read the script, i was like, "this is going to be a gut punch. every day, you know, it's going to be a little triggering or a lot triggering but for the greater good of getting, like, to create a bigger platform to let more people know that human trafficking, sexual trafficking is a global pandemic and when black and brown girls go missing, we do not have the resources or the media attention. and we are often demonized and sort of -- are held complicit in our own abuse and just trying to, you know, re-center the focus on the most marginalized of the marginalized >> seth: you, before you became an actor, you actually were thinking about being a lawyer. >> yeah.