chloe anthony morrison also known as tony. enriched us all in measurably and my dear friend, rita dove come herself of course a right of no small talbot will now say a few words in remembrance of our beloved toni morrison. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome rita dove. [applause] >> good evening. >> good evening. >> when i was a graduate student in iowa city, i watered the universities library stacks one afternoon. and there behind my left shoulder, a book was looking for me. right at eye level was the bluest eye. i pulled it from the shelf, read the first pages, and do that i was home. since that discovery over four decades ago, no words can fully express what toni morrison has meant to me as a writer, a woman, a black woman, and yes, a fellow ohio when from lorraine just 50 miles from my home town of akron, and less than 30 miles from here, as you all know, where we have gathered here tonight. at a time when i come the only african-american student in the iowa writers workshop could've easily been consumed by bitterness, sh

when encountered by toni morrison on the first page was that this had been a mistake. how could i come in office editor lay hands on the pros of the literary era. she disagreed with a few of the changes after we discussed it and after some length you have proved to them. toni morrison wrote to us again and again exporting our beauty and making us grapple reaffirming our humanity. every word, every sentence in an embrace and every paragraph they say i know you, icu, we are together. we prayed and sang and danced. she loved us she loved us at our best and broken and made us experience and understand ourselves for kindness with all that we have survived and all we had not. all we have made, all we have become. now that she is gone. [applause] there's one more person i need to mention, the guiding force of the evening. the person who makes sure that every detail is in place. the person who does so much to bring us all together, my friend, caring long. [applause] to celebrate literature that explores, celebrates and complicates race relations but it's caring who brings the

i would be remiss not to mention what happened today with toni morrison to had a huge influence on my world and language. so now there is a reporter so it is a project i believe it wholeheartedlyep and i would see my colleagues on the beat and there is a sisterhood that forms. so this was stuff that doesn't make it out of our notebooks. >> you open that you are often asked what it is like to be a woman reporter. >> and then with the premise of the entire book. with wrote local journalist in general covering the worlds i want to say did you have advantages and if you could recount one or two of those. >> the problem with that question is that it's just weighted down. then that's the rest of it. had you ever do that job under repression? with very few exceptions it was nothing but a benefit because generally you could do everything my mail callings were doing but then to have access and those two warned some cases with very little access i could go get my nails done at the salon. i could be in the kitchen and the women's quarters so even when there was those encounters because i was a w

toni morrison one in 1902 and then the next time it went to american it was just recently bob dylan is not a writer he's a singer and that's now it's felt as americans and there's also been the perception that other. prizes have been awarded to. reward or embarrass one nation or another they've been viewed as the most political literature prize in the world of david with all due respect to send a little bit defensive both dylan if you will my big brother you'd be saying hang on hang on he may not fully be a rights but he is a poet his poetry is put to music so why shouldn't he with a nobel prize. it was so disappointed i love i love his music loved it all my life but when you consider the body of work of analysis that has a dozen holes and you consider those against the lyrics and don't music that prize seem to say that what writers are doing doesn't matter it was resented by writers around the world and was a tremendous mistake and embarrassment for the academy and awarded the prize also it's not done and there was nothing for booksellers to sell also it was a disaster for everyone th

. >> donna: i am rereading toni morrison's book.best of times. >> dana: you just read a book didn't you? >> greg: i did i? all you have heard what's it called? the mom? great book. i interviewed -- i read so many books and i write so many -- i'm writing a book right now. a self-help book which will change the world. i believe this book will change the world. >> dana: do you still read old hardcover books? >> greg: yet. i don't have what you might call it -- i don't have a kindle. i don't care anymore. i like books. i like to hold it in my hand. it's funny, when he read a book, you do feel like there's the stream of activity that you are missing a mess because of this so you are sitting there reading like i've been reading for 20 minutes, what happened? but when you are loved and lived in new york and you stayed home and thought you were missing out social media has done to us. but we are not. we are not. read the bible. read a book. >> jedediah: one more thing is coming up next. ♪ percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geic

i kind of live by the late tony morrison's concept that, you know, the great kind of bad part about racismn. it keeps you explaining things that don't need to be explained. and every moment that i spend trying to get you to change something about you is a moment i've taken away from loving my family, from being a part of my career, from reading a good book or whatever i want to do that was edifying to me and my community and my family. you have to stop at some point centering the racist person and putting energy into changing that person's life. that is a double oppression. asking the oppressed to fix the oppressor is another oppression. you have to come out and say to yourself i am efficient, i do not need to explain to you, i do not need to drag someone who's reluctant out of the cave and into the light. >> so it's not on the oppressor to teach the oppressed? it's on the oppressed to teach the oppressor. i do agree that that is something a lot of our african-americans feel like if i don't do it, who's going to teach them? >> think about for 400 years all the time and energy black people

tony morrison calls him unspeakable and unspoken truth and that's what baldwin does to.hen we think about what ronald walter's tries to do. he tries to call this out and say here's what's happening and here's why we have to organize all of this. questions will. >> a lot of the strategy now alters talked about seems will be a lot easier to execute on a state and local level and that much easier task than trying to pull the leaders accountable to them on this level and think about jesse jackson with the primaries and thinking if you just working on the state levels which will look to achieve this more easily. and louisiana and is there a disconnect there or is he deferring to other people and with that level of action? >> i think he wants a collection connection. one of the reasons why herald washington of chicago won and became a or after the 83 election and that was a big inspiration in 1983. it's supposed to do both but one of the things i saw in jesse jackson was that he mobilizes the black voters which have not previously voted. they did the same thing in chicago and

. >> i mean, toni morrison, "beloved" is a ghost story >> seth: yeah. >> you know?ulling in some extra thing >> seth: you -- one of the things that unlocks the power in hiram is memory. >> yes >> seth: and remembering his mother and it was just this beautiful quote in here that i wanted to read "for memory is the chariot and memory is the way. and memory is bridge from the curse of slavery to the boon of freedom. can you just talk about what was important for memory for you in this book? and why that, ultimately is the key for the character? >> i think in much of my nonfiction work, i've been thinking and just working towards memory i mean, that's what "reparations" is about, for instance it's about remembering and i think so much of what we do, so much of how we act, you know, in the world, is based on -- how shall we say, an edited notion of what our history is and what our, you know, national memory is and so hiram's a character who wants badly, you know, like all enslaved people wanted to be free, but he can't actually achieve that emancipation without rememberi

tony morrison one in 1902 and then the next one to american was just recently bob dylan is not a writer he's a singer and that's now it's felt as americans and there's also been a perception that other. prizes have been awarded to. reward or embarrass one nation or another they've been viewed as the most political literature prize in the world of david with all due respect to send a little bit defensive bob dylan if you will my big brother you'd be saying hang on hang on he may not fully be a rights but he is a poet his poetry is put to music so why shouldn't he with a nobel prize. it was so disappointed i love i love his music loved it all my life but when you consider the body of work of a novelist who has a dozen novels and you consider those against the lyrics and bach isn't don't music that price seem to say that what writers are doing doesn't matter it was resented by writers around the world and was a tremendous mistake and embarrassment for the academy and awarded the prize also he's not done and there was nothing for booksellers to sell also it was a disaster for everyone there

the clerk: senate resolution 402 honoring the life, work and legacy of toni morrison. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 403. the clerk: designating octobering 2019 as national farm to school month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all in

>> to be honest, the great tony morrison said if -- i'm going to ruin this quote -- but if you can'ti wanted to sort of have an heirloom recipe collection that could tell the story of foods they grew up with and others grew up with. there wasn't a book quite like it. i think a big part is the immigrant influences that are so deeply embedded in the region that we don't even know that they're there. that was the fun part for me is pulling out the roots of all of these things i really took for granted for a long time. >> how do you go from broadcast journalism? >> do you want to make the switch? >> no. >> no, truthfully, i worked on entertainment news. after a while it felt a little thin, you know. and i got into food, sort of the very beginning of food blogs, as a way to remember where i came from. and i was in l.a. at the time, but it really helped connect me to home. and then that sort of grew. i started writing recipes professionally, and then started writing books. >> you can be assured, this is sick. >> delicious. >> and we -- we missed this piece -- >> the cocktail. yes. anyone w