so thank you to mississippi to the mississippi arts commission to mississippi humanities council, to everyone in the state government who allowed this -- helped make this possible. i hate to do this but my little -- my prepared remarks are in my phone, so i apologize for being rude but here we go. everywhere guy journalist ask me why i chose to return home to mississippi. i recently wrote an essay where i wrestled with mississippi's often violent history of racial inequality and after doing so came to the conclusion that it is the beauty of the place, and the fierce fight and inherent good of so many here who do everything they can to make a better future for mississippi, that make me feel better about my decision to return. and even though i felt fairly satisfied with that answer, in my essay, upon later when he looked at the is say again i did it. like many writer its found my work unfinished issue incomplete, why? in part i realize it that my decision to return home is not final. not resolved. that my return home is not a question answered by an essay but is instead a lived questi

ask them why did you come to mississippi in 1961. the ability to tell the stories in this book has a been a real meaningful experience and i've learned so much more about my story as mississippians and i just want to share quickly the story of one freedom writer who is from jackson. before i do that. dolores seen that. i'm not sure i can't really see very well. hezekiah watkins. did fred make it? they will beat with me in signing books if you want to come and talk to them later. but one of their buddies was a guy named jesse davis. in 2016 and unfortunately he died last year. here in jackson. he just graduated from linear the summer of the freedom rain. i remember when i first heard about it. when can something like that come to jackson. there was no a sit in in jackson. i was fearful for my mother that if i acted independently without support our end up like in the till. it's a great possibility that that would happen. he have a make the decision like miss travis is talking about. i'm ago get arrested he did that in new orleans. and

, mississippi. [applause] year, wes time last won an election by winning 93% of the vote! [applause] and more importantly, we did so on an unapologetically progressive agenda. [applause] the declaration in jackson, mississippi, that we intended to be the most radical city on the planet. [applause] thatis a declaration honestly comes out of what was initially a critique. a critique of myself. prior to taking office, it was a critique of my father, who people suggested, maybe we were far too radical to bring people together. maybe we were too radical to make the change that was necessary in the city of jackson. and so, i took it upon myself to look up what the word "radical" means. when you look at the definition of radical, you find that a radical is a person who seeks change. if we look outside of these walls, we look into our communities and we see a need for change, then the reality is, we need to be prepared to be as radical as the circumstances dictate we should be. [applause] when i look across

our sponsors are the mississippi state university and the university of southern mississippi school of humanities, and the center for the study of the gulf south. i'd like to ask you to silence your phones so we won't have any interruptions. i also like to ask you, feel free to take pictures during the panel and also if you're on facebook or you do twitter, i'd like to also ask you to please use the hag hash tag for thundershower histories, #literary lawn party or #ms book fifth, literary lawn party or ms bookfest. and i also want to remind you that promptly after the panel we have to move out of the room so we can move in the audience nor next panel, so, again, thank you for being here. at this time i am very happy to ask dr. rebecca tourry from the usm school of humanity and center for the study of the gulf south to please come and join us on the dyas as she will introduce our moderator for this panel. [applause] >> thank you, dr. mcdaniel for your introduction. greetings, thank you all for attending this panel on southern history this afternoon and thank you also to those whoa might

mississippi freedom writers. it contains the mug mugshots of all 329 writers arrested in 1961 as well as contemporary portraits and poor profiles of more than 90 writers. i'm going to allow each one of the authors to talk about their books for about five minutes and then we will go into some questions we will start with jane hearn. tell us about this book. >> thank you. it's so nice to be here. i appreciate everyone who has come to see this. jim lucas took pictures has a very young man he really started taking pictures when he was about 13 he started working for the jackson daily news and shooting photographs when his 14 he kept all of his negatives and they were meticulously organized and stored and he was in millsaps college when he was taking these pictures starting with the freedom summer. the book covers events that were iconic mississippi events during the civil rights movement to include the search for schwerner government. during of the freedom summer 1964. they also include the meredith march in 1966. th

amy: talk about the differerence betweeeen the private and public prisons and mississippi. >> mississippiesterday public prisons -- missssissippi has the public prisons. are three private as well. supposedly, private are supposed to run prisons cheaper. 10% cheaper than the public facilities. we find that not to be the case. we find they never fill their staffing guidelines, while all the while they're being paid every day per day per inmate. keepey are revised to inmates as long as possible and incentivizized to be profitable. the only way they can be profitable is to be understaffed. theing you can run up -- only way to run n a prison of te understataffed is to let banks d the role oftake guards for safety and security, which is no safetyty in a security. we of series contraband problems. a lot of the deaths in prison are from overdosing on drugs. we have a spike. we know the drugs and contraband is being run directly to the prisoners to the staff were largely because the staff are so underpaid and soap poorly triggered. there -- and so poorly triggered. that mandatory post for staffing

mississippi. -- winston informally with a did his voter registration. they did a lot of work. there's a book there is a book about them called mississippi harmony. you can read more about them, but they represented another group of women who worked so hard in the movement and who are unacknowledged. the montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56. why did i include and want to mention that quite because it is a microcosm of african-american women leaders and leadership roles. joanne robinson was a teacher, professor that the local black college, and she was also active in the women's political council. one of the things they did, people wonder how was the bus boycott successful? it wasn't just a successful piece of successful piece of oratory but because people were strategist and visionaries and they thought ahead. they knew there would come a time when someone would sit down to stand up and so when mrs. parks did that, they were ready and they ran off of all these things, but before that they had arranged

, mississippi. [applause] where this time last year, we won an election by winning 93% of the vote! [applause] and more importantly, we did so on an unapologetically progressive agenda. [applause] we have made the declaration in jackson, mississippi that we intend to be the most radical city on the planet. [applause] this is a declaration that honestly comes out of what was initially a critique, a critique it was a critique of myself. and prior to taking office, it was a critique of my father, who suggested maybe we were , far too radical to bring people together. maybe we were too radical to make the change that was necessary in the city of jackson. and so, i took it upon myself to look up what the word "radical" means. when you look at the definition of radical, you find that a radical is a person who seeks change. and if we look outside of these walls, we look into our communities and we see a need for change, then the reality is, we need to be prepared to be as radical as the circumstances dicta

so, the child development group of mississippi, cdgm gets set up. these are all civil rights people who are doing the teaching there. and it really annoyed the power structure. and so they took it upon themselves to destroy cdgm, as we now say fake facts, saying that there had been stealing, so on, so on. we went down there to talk about who to give marian -- in addition to being the first black woman who was in -- ever a lawyer in mississippi and was the -- for the legal defense fund there in mississippi, she was also the general counsel of cdgm. so, she was asked to be a >> she talks about the and then, she talks about the fact that families,children, and mississippi very close to starvation. very significant malnutrition. awful. so we went and changed the plan andwhen of the mississippi saw these families. it, it isa reason for a longer story but essentially, the cotton industry, the plantations had planned -- changed their way of working and they did not need the workers anymore. the were able to get harvest with machines. this connects to the c

and the legal defense and chief lawyer in mississippi and also the general counselor. she was asked to be a witness there and she talks about that. then she talks about the fact that there is children and families in mississippi who are close to starvation. very significant malnutrition and it is awful and we changed the plan work we went to mississippi and saw the families. there was a reason for it. it is a longer story but essentially the cotton industry and the cotton plantations changed their way of working and they did not need the workers anymore for minimum wage. they were able to get rid of -- harvest the cotton with machines and so on. this can ask the campaign because what we saw their of these children was swollen bellies with sores under their arms. robert cantu d -- kennedy came home that night and he said to his children, he said we walked from one house to another but he had never seen anything like that. for america, it was shocking. robert kennedy was in mississippi and he was with cbs and it was on national television that night. that work and what h

our sponsors are the mississippi state university and the university of southern mississippi school of humanities, and the center for the study of the gulf south. i'd like to ask you to silence your phones so we won't have any interruptions. i also like to ask you, feel free to take pictures during the panel and also if you're on facebook or you do twitter, i'd like to also ask you to please use the hag hash tag for thundershower histories, #literary lawn party or #ms book fifth, literary lawn party or ms bookfest. and i also want to remind you that promptly after the panel we have to move out of the room so we can move in the audience nor next panel, so, again, thank you for being here. at this time i am very happy to ask dr. rebecca tourry from the usm school of humanity and center for the study of the gulf south to please come and join us on the dyas as she will introduce our moderator for this panel. [applause] >> thank you, dr. mcdaniel for your introduction. greetings, thank you all for attending this panel on southern history this afternoon and thank you also to those whoa might

i would go down to mississippi. and robert kennedy loved her. and it was a real friendship that came there. so one time that she was in town, he was home and i called and i said, marian's here. would you like to see her? and he said, yeah, come out for lunch. and so we are at this point in the fall of 1967, remember that we had seen the children who were so hungry in the spring. just in his thinking, this was all tied together. and marian -- senator kennedy said to marian, what's dr. king doing? what are you doing? and she said, i'm going down to atlanta and i have a meeting with dr. king and all of the colleagues there. and they're trying to figure out what to do next. and robert kennedy says to him, you should go down -- you tell them that they should bring people to washington and have them stay there until the people here in washington do what they really should do. that's where the poor people's campaign came from. >> that's a really important piece of history we should understand. and also just the evolution of bobby kennedy, his thinking

so, the child development group of mississippi, cdgm gets set up. and these are all civil rights people who are doing the teaching there. and it really annoyed the power structure. and so, they took it upon themselves to destroy cdgm, as we now say fake facts, saying that there had been stealing, so on, so on. and so, we went down there to talk about who to give marian -- in addition to being the first black woman who was in -- ever a lawyer in mississippi and was the -- for the legal defense was their defense lawyer and she was also the general counsel of cdgm. so, she was asked to be a witness there, so she talks about that. and then she talks about the fact that there are children and families in mississippi who are very close to starvation. very significant malnutrition. awful. plan and we went up to mississippi and we saw these families. there was a reason for it. it is a long story. essentially, the cotton industry had changed their way of working. they did not need workers anymore. of --re able to get rid to harvest the cotton. this connects

>> what is pop in mississippi?ng ab witughter] something i've been thinking are about as i i try to grapple with a moment we are in is what comedian bill marston to deny racism is the new racism also i have been i have been hearing a lot about white fragility whiche is a new book and just to have these conversations but that will require confronting some really difficult issues and wers cannot fall into these traps sa, that we are all the same. i don't see such and such or my grandchildren or more biracial or whatever. i'm also surrounded by white millennial's i also see they are open-minded but in other ways i wish they would get out of there gadgets a little bit more to have those face-to-face bec conversations. not because assuming this posture will not do it. thank you. >> you did a lot. [laughter] but again, i don't i don't want to seem like pollyanna. vetotally recognize we are in very difficult times. book will probably feel more dystopian but that's right. leu are absolutely right. peop the forces of darkne

of the mississippi river because we assume they're using it in some way. so now you have 100,000 people with 100,000 shares, and then that's the mississippi river corporation. again, it sounds weird to the non-initiated or to the non-weirdoes, but i think that it would save lives, and it would deal with running out of resources like fish resources and things like that. and and last, finally are, we get to the book now. let me wave this in front of the camera. >> host: we'll put it up. >> guest: oh, you're going to do that? >> host: yeah. >> guest: unfortunately, i don't have the book. it just came out yesterday -- >> host: space capitalism, it's called, how humans will colonize planets, moons and asteroids. >> guest: right. so now i'm applying the same old property rights view, only now not to roads or rivers or lakes, but to space. and there are two aspects of space. one, the land on the moon and the land on mars. who should own that? well, again, i resort to john locke and murray rothbard and their views on homesteading. you mix your labor with the land,

eastern for the mississippi book festival, live on book tv on c-span2. senators returned to washington tomorrow after a short and summer recess for continued work on judicial nominations starting at noon eastern. we have live coverage as always on c-span two. body takemay see the up opioid legislation, it water infrastructure bill and an effort to reauthorize the federal aviation administration.

showers and the mississippi river corporation. again, it sounds weird know noninitiated or the inside weirdoes but i think it would save lives, and it would deal with running out of resource like fish and things like that. last, finally, the book now, let me wave this in front of the camera. >> host: we'll put it up. >> guest: unfortunately i don't have the book. just cam out yesterday or the -- >> host: how humans will colonize maintain is, moons and asteroid? now applying the same opened private property rights view but only now not to roads or rivers or lakes but to space. and there are two aspects of space. one, the land on the moon and the land on mars, who should own that? well, again, i resort to johnlock and murray log and their views on homesteading. mix your labor with the land and you get to own it. you don't own the whole moon because you landed a flag throughout be you own a couple square miles. i'm a humanist, i love human beings and i'm afraid we're going to blow ourselves up and it would be nice have some people on

i tree from fourth mississippi but i only take back rooted. there's no interstates and adon't bly so i get to understand what is happening, not just in my destination of where i'm going, but in the areas around it. so you understand what kind of economic and cultural issues that might be going on in a region. in 2016, i was covering the presidential election, and i decided to drive all across pennsylvania, pennsylvania is a state that is gone blue since 1988. one of the things that was -- people were missing was that since 1988, every presidential election, it was .4 less democratic. bill clinton won pennsylvania by 28 counties in 1996. barack obama won them with 13 in 2012. people didn't notice that erosion. so i already went with this idea, something different might be happening. is a drove around the counties, there were ten counties -- there's 67 -- a lot of driving -- there were ten counties that really stood out to me. these were counties that voted for romney, but didn't really -- there one a big turnout. three counties that voted for c

. >> good morning everyone fromsi the mississippi department of history the fourth annualhe mississippi book festival the american history panel on com surviving mississippi librarymit commission we will get started with that in a moment but just the want to tell people we are live on c-span and forever on esspan it is a good idea tophon silence your cell if phone andie abo wut 40 minutes into the program we will take questions from the audience at that time we will ask everybody to queue up at the podium.please he me w thank you for joining us please help me to welcome the new executive director from the commission who will say a few words about this panel today they haveds. sponsored. >> good morning we would like to welcome all the viewers to mississippi and all of you in the audience coming from other areas mississippi library commission is very pleased to have been a sponsor of the book festival continuing this year's to believe very strongly with humanity and libraries without authors have taken shelves. ple we are pleased to welcome those in distinguished authors and look l forwa

you are more likely to be represented by a black lawmaker in mississippi -- you lived in mississippi. this law is working and doing good. the thought about this but thought it was time for change, lessons have been learned. the quarter has been turned, things are better. at the same time, litigation is being brought against the position. should congress do not updated. so here's what happens is congress passes a law without change and have a testimony that says there's a vulnerability. there is a vulnerability. there's been a case out of texas through the city of burning case and would've argued his old evidence of behavior say 40-years-old with long sufficient grounds to create a statute. it had to be timely and relevant. this is seized upon by litigants who are challenging coverage of the voting rights act. they decide who and who is not discriminating and who should and should not have the constitutional guarantee to conduct without interfering. it doesn't sound like it is kosher with other presidents. who gets brought down in texas by a utility district called the north austin mun

are you finding dinner with friend in mississippi a little tougher? >> well, specifically with my family, i just heard from so many of them. they are sick of talking about donald trump period just because he's sucked up so much of the oxygen justin national conversation. while george w. bush was president he might not have been universally popular but it wasn't the singular obsession of the country to dissect george w. bush every second and it wasn't with barack obama either except maybe over at fox news. jeremy's report is very important because he's identifying something that i've seen over the course of the last two years, doing focus groups with lord ashcroft polls and that's just the rupture that this election has had on friendships, on family, how people feel very silenced about their political views especially if they are a trump supporter that they can't necessarily share those views because of the judgment that they will receive and the negative judgment that they will receive. so at this point it really seems

mississippi is a wildcard. they have options. i think nevada, arizona, and tennessee are the best path that they can hold democratic seats. alexander: i agree with that. i think dean heller in nevada is considered the most likely democratic pickup. after that, i think arizona is seen as the next strongest pickup. the key factor in those two states is they are a large hispanic population. president trump has run a very divisive public campaign against illegal immigration. helps them al this lot with hispanic voters. those are states with large hispanic populations to we will see if that is the case. that would be something i wanted to hear from him about. will trump hurt republicans in the states? that is one of the most interesting questions. host: what role will super pac's play this year? nicholas: a large one. there will be a time of money in competitive states all over the country. we were talking about this before. we started speculating about whether or not it will matter because the republicans and democrats seem to have s

>> salam, people, what's popping, mississippi? [laughter] >> something i've been thinking about as i'm trying to grapple with moment we are in is what comedian bill mahr said, the denial of racism is the new racism, also i've been hearing a lot about white in new book, yes, we need to have conversations but it's going to require really confronting some really difficult issues and we can't fall into these traps of, you know, we are all the same, i don't see such and such and my grandchildren are multiracial or what have you, i'm also -- i'm surrounded by white millennials and i also see that they are open-minded but in other ways i wish they would get out of their gadgets a little bit more so we can have the face to face conversations because assuming this posture is not going to do it, thank you. >> well, he said a lot. [laughter] >> again, i don't want to seem like -- you know, i totally, totally recognize that we are in very difficult times. my next book is probably going to feel more dystopian, but, you know, that's right, you'

mississippi had the highest voter registration among blacks in any state of united states followed by alabama. if you are black resident representative by a black lawmaker mississippi if you live in new york city. this law is working. it's doing good. those who thought it was time for change was lessons had been learned. the corner has been turned and things are better. the same time litigation is being prepared against this provision should congress not update. so here's what happens. congress passes this law but they haven't testimony that says there's a vulnerability here. here's the vulnerability. if there's a case out of texas called the city of -- and what it argued was old evidence of behavior say 40 years old was not sufficient grounds for congress to create a statute. evidence had to be timely and relevant to the problem. this is seized by litigants who challenge coverage of the voting rights act saying you are asking congress to make use of 35-year-old data, 45-year-old data and who should and shouldn't have their constitutional guarantee to conduct local elections? that doe

join us live today beginning at 10:30 eastern for the mississippi book festival on book tv. >> book tv recently visited capitol hill. the summer i'm reading the book by robert caro. about lyndon johnson. it's a fourth annual in a series in a series of books. this one is called the passage of power it's about the years when he was vice president and then the transition when the president kennedy was assassinated. and vice president johnson became president johnson. this is a series of books. the first one is how he became johnson became a young man. and the first time he ran for congress. called pass to power. it's one of the best books i've ever read about how to campaign. i used to make all my young staffers read it as a first-time candidate johnson would literally do anything and everything to talk to as many voters one on one almost 247. it kind of got me hooked. there is a book about johnson as a congressman. in a book about him when he gets elected to the senate. and this fourth one is about becoming a vice president and when the president was assassinated how he took over as pres

aretha's soul from the mississippi river. then between tennessee and mississippi. his home until march on washington. along with harry belafonte, he was facing bankruptcy, we couldn't go any further. where was the money coming from? the black banks are too small and white banks are too hostile. so, aretha said we'll check. we'll give you the money. we were on attack. aretha franklin and harry belafonte stepped on the stage in houston, texas. on that stage, they put tear gas in the fan. they had to evacuate the building. she kept right on singing. she sang for carter mandela, clinton, obama. after all, before we had this level of technology, in the same group. called the caravans. i was called last week to meet with aretha. i met with her at least a month for the last three years. she called me to reach my on the phone. talking to the fire. prayed a why and cried a while. i came last wednesday. aretha was in a coma. not able to wake up or move some days. i was with -- i said wake up, baby. wake up baby. she opened her eyes. the warmth of her hand one more time. it w

this is another campaign in mississippi.any small meetings like this in churches everywhere the church was the main line for the movement in many ways. and so they would give the and the poor people's campaign of 1960 he traveled all through the deep south having little bitty like this. i was from the detroit area. and we have these tremendous upheavals in the 1960s. i feel responsible for this. we are not delivering on jobs. it was the time of terror in the north as well. let me finish. this is ghost point michigan. they have to shut off the meeting early. he got his speech done but then everybody had to leave very threatening. these people have come and attack you. time after time. and then memphis the sanitation workers working full-time jobs at less than the minimum wage. these offloaded vehicles. very heavy labor. march 18 of 1968 and made this great speech. a labor has dignity supporting the sanitation workers and after police riot on march 28 they brought in the national guard. and the workers came out. i am a woman.

we speak with former mississippi governor haly lay -- haley barbour. and author frank williams with "lincoln as hero." join us live at 10:30 eastern for the mississippi book festival on book tv on c-span 2.

she hails originally from rural mississippi. also with us is ron james junior, who practices law in washington, d.c. he has been practicing for 17 years. he currently serves at the pentagon as a civilian attorney for the department of the navy. he is the author of "root and branch." the book we're going to talk about tonight, "the double v." if i failed to mention it, this is the double v here. copies are on sale at the bookstore. if you would like to purchase one, you can do that on your way out tonight. mr. james has graciously offered to sign those copies in the lobby afterwards if you would like to have that opportunity. anyway, to get started i would you -- welcome and thank you for being here. i would like you to reflect for a moment on the significance of this day. this is july 26, 70 years ago today that harry truman did what a lot of historians have said was perhaps the most significant thing that he did while in office. desegregate the armed forces. in terms of the impact it has had over the intervening decades. what a

booktv is live at the mississippi book festival. for the fourth annual literary lawn party at the state capital in jackson. with discussions on race and identity. southern history, u.s. politics and residential leadership. including authors of loving, interracial intimacy in america and the threat to white supremacy. jack davis with his pulitzer prize-winning book, the making of an american c. -- spoke to his former mississippi governor haley barbara. her book is the great revolt. and so the populace coalition reshaping american politics. and author, frank williams with lincoln. join us live 10:30 am eastern for the mississippi book festival on booktv on c-span2. >> c-span washington journal. live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, mcallister on reducing inner-city violence in chicago and other cities by using methods associated with disease control. their manhattan institute rafael -- continues our discussion on gun violence and potential solutions to stop it. be sure to watch c-span

i lived in mississippi and i lived in chicago. i could tell the difference between night and day in some places, in some ways. but my main point was in 1968, when dr. martin luther king was assassinated, i was in chicago. i saw the riots. i saw the burning of buildings. i saw things that was going on. and one thing about it, my mother would not allow me to bring anything into that apartment, into our house, that was stolen. she refused to let us do that. but my main point is this. in 2018, going back that far, a lot has changed, but there's a lot has not changed in the sense of when you say in 2018 you going to make this country great again and you're going to -- what the hell you have to lose, black folks, african-americans, well, i don't think that -- america has always been great and always will be great, no matter what, but the thing is, you got to make america right again. because the civil rights marches and whites, blacks, and everybody back during that time, it was not the government that exposed the wrong in this country.

salina speaks with the former mississippi governor. her book is "the great revolt." and author frank williams with "lincoln as hero." join us live, saturday, beginning at 10:30 eastern for the mississippi book festival on book tv on c-span2. each week, american artifacts takes you to museums and historic places to learn about american history. next, we visit the henry ford in deerborn, michigan, to see the garage where ford built his first car, the quadricycle. jim johnson then shows us ford's childhood home where he was born in 1863. both buildings were located to greenfield village, the living history section of the henry ford. >> my name's jim johnson. i'm the cau curator. we're here with a 1914 model t, and it's just one of the things you get to experience here in greenfield village. behind me is the bagley shed, and this stood behind his house in detroit, a rented house where he developed his first gasoline engine and eventually his first car in 1896. and then we'll be having a look at his birthplace, which was also brought here to greenfield village much later

he said i knew i had to go south so he made his way to the belly of the beast, to mississippi and he met with a man named ramsey more who was the president of the cleveland mississippi branch of the naacp and was a vice chair of the statewide and double acp and he said he wanted to get involved in making life better for the african-american population which was basically living under a regime of social and political apartheid and economic clause i slavery . and most said he went down with expectations that he was going to be involved in sit ins at lunch counters and restaurants and hotels but more said look around. you are in a congressional district that two thirds african-american and none of the black people here can vote and of course they could vote during reconstruction but that ended after 10 years with the termination of reconstruction, a nonunion troops out in 1876 and since then it had been grandfather clause in literacy testing and kkk night riders so black people were basically driven all the voter rolls and he said if you want to help we will register people to vote and

we have two races going on in mississippi. nobody thought we could win an alabama. and it turned out that we had a really terrific senators elected. alexander: in 2016, democrats were optimistic about their chances. democrats wound up losing races they thought they were going to win. pennsylvania and wisconsin jump out at me. i was talking with nick before the program, he wondered whether you learned any lessons about spending earlier, let's say an ohio for instance purchase money have been spent earlier in that ohio race in 2016? what lessons have you learned from 2016 that you are applying? what did you do wrong then that could be done better this time to avoid disappointment? sen. van hollen: there were disappointments in 2016. the first thing i did when i was elected to the senate was take a look at those races. if you look at it, it turns out that there was no state that donald trump won in the swing states where you also had a democratic senate. they track very closely. i think the lesson for our candidates, and i don't think our candidates need to learn this,

and it is cradled between tennessee and arkansas, mississippi. 233 blacks we re arkansas, mississippind could not buy ice cream. had a carand money and could not buy ice cream. had a car and could not stop to buy gasoline. aretha came out of the bowels of our struggle. her father led the big march in detroit in 1963. he worked for doctor came, stayed in his home until the march on washington. doctor king was facing bankruptcy. he could not go any further. was the money coming from, cannot get it from the banks, the white banks were very hostile. and so, aretha franklin, took a city tour, to raise money. but doctor king was so unpopular and under such attack that we could not fill an auditorium this size without aretha, stepped on the stage in houston, texas. and on that stage, they put tear gas and the fans. and they attacked. she sang for mandela, 0bama, clinton. because afterall before we had this level of technology, there was george, in the same group. called the care bears. i was cold last week, to see aretha, i saw are among the last three years. —— a month. they said aretha is

joining us on the phone is james from mississippi. we split the phone lines up by age, he is 61 and older. >> good morning, everybody. i wanted to hope everybody had a happy passover and whatever else they have to celebrate the death of jesus christ. i was 14 years old in 1968. i been on both sides of the street, i lived in mississippi and chicago, i could tell the difference like night and day. my main point was in 1968, dr. martin luther king was assassinated, i was in chicago, i felt the riots and saw the burnings of buildings and things going on. one thing about it, my mother did not allow me to bring anything in the house it was stolen, she refused to let s2 that. my main point is this, in 2018 and going back that far, a lot has changed but a lot has not changed. in the sense of when you say 2018, you make this country great again, and what the hell you have to lose, black folks asking americans, i don't think america has always been great and always will be great no matter what. the thing is, you have to make america right again

if we look at any measure, mississippi is 49th, 50th, no one needed more pre-k the mississippi. while a strong conservative republican governor wanted access to more federal dollars his congressional leaders from mississippi were fighting us and we were not able to fund it. the disconnect between the dysfunction in d.c. and what i saw traveling talk 50 states visiting mississippi, that dichotomy between what people really wanted and how they were living in the real world and what happens here in d.c., that distance is troubling. host: were there other aspects connected to race to the top? guest: many challenges and pushback from the left and right. we were challenging the status quo. the idea that we had to increase high school graduation rates, the idea that we make sure high school graduates were prepared for some form of higher education beyond that, we got pushback from the left and the right and that was ok. some criticism is more than valid, more than fair. things he would do differently in hindsight. host: arne duncan joining us with his book. let's go to edward. you are

supposed louisiana or mississippi passes a law that says new abortions after six weeks or we are going to criminalize abortion. that gets struck down because of roe v. wade. the appeal to the supreme court. so what does the supreme court do? we will see if they want to move slowly, step-by-step, or if they are faced a year or two from now with a state that has essentially banned abortion. maybe they can find some middle position. i think it is also possible that somewhere down the road they thissay roe was a mistake, is not part of the constitution, this is something to be decided by the people, and we could have a system where it is back to each state. that is the way the death penalty played out in the 1970's. the court was on the verge of striking down the death penalty nationwide, they then backed away from it. now we have a system that plays out where texas and mississippi and other states have the death penalty. massachusetts and michigan don't. other states are in between. they have the death penalty, but they never executed anyone. i think it is possible that abortion could, do

suppose a state, mississippi or thatiana, passes a law says no abortions after six weeks. we're going to criminalize abortion. that law gets struck down by lower court judges because of roe v. wade. what does the court do? we will see. whether they want to move whetherstep-by-step, or they face a state that has essentially banned abortion. maybe they can find some middle position where regulations are ok. i think it is also possible that five of them will say roe was a mistake, this is not part of the constitution, this is something to be decided by the people, and that we could have a system where it is back to each state. that is the way the death penalty played out in the 70's in the future. the court was on the verge of striking down the death and of the nationwide. they then backed away from it. we now have a system that has played out where texas and mississippi, and other states have the death penalty. massachusetts and michigan don't. some states are in between. they never executed anyone. that abortion could go the same way. the court could step back and say this

join us live beginning at 10:30 eastern for the mississippi book festival on booktv on c-span20. >> hello, everyone. i am jennifer grossman, ceo of the atlas society, a philosophy think tank which has been building on the ideas of i and rand in creative ways. i'm not sure why i was selected to moderate this panel. it is not -- >> voracious female influence. >> in the 1992 playboy september issue of playmates ivy league, because i was not. it might be because ayn rand who was interviewed by hugh hefner in playboy and there was a bit of an admiration between ayn rand and hugh hefner. she went to the club, she thought it was a great entrepreneurial enterprise and had a very moving eulogy, the first playmate of the first issue of playboy which was marilyn monroe. hugh hefner was influenced by ayn rand, particularly the fountainhead. we are going to be debating the issue of should we dedicate a room to hugh hefner. by that, i think what mark means is did hugh hefner have an overall positive affect on the american scene as a liberator of sexual ethics? are was he more of a coarsening influence?