Why he was reading jonathan edwards, centerssinners in the hands of an angry god. And its a great sermon, but its pretty harsh and terrifying and human beings are the centers that god is dangling over the fire now rigid, way of thinking about god was in town rigid of service in the form of protestantism in christianity. What if you were one of these people. And this in the sermons are listening to and there was this place here where you could breeze and you canyou can think of yourself not as an ugly, depraved sinner but as a free person with value and will. It really changed how i thought about these people and their ambitions for their own lives and the finest place that seems so crazyseem so crazy and silly to me. There are disturbing things about it, but it was this place of refuge and freedom and committee and he really made them feel like someone i would know. It was a weird thing the city from a distance. There is so much knowledge out there. And that comes back to talking about learning history not necessarily always in class with people like that. I am obviously a writer and am in favor of literacy and the written tradition, theres something you said for passing on knowledge. Reading your fellow citizens. Coming into the world so much of my book is about the discord in american life. The military funerals to protest and always fights about abortion. When i was sitting in a Meeting House talking to these friends and we were laughing and joking and talking in never telling me just saying we are against war but explaining everything the people went through because of the war, war, crops taken by both sides, both armies, stuff was stolen. It was a hardship for the people. There are real reasons to question the sanity of war and even though obviously i did not give up on my quest to write about this warrior, the idea warrior, the idea that we were having this pleasant, civil conversation with mild disagreement, that, to me, that kind of stuff, no one will write a newspaper articlea newspaper article about it but people can live amongst each other and learn from one another and sometimes disagreements can be educational. Educational. Even though i dont walk the quicker walk i think the book maybe watch a little differently. Archives and records in all learners. Talking to people thought about these things. [applause] [inaudible conversations] book tv is on instagram. Next preservation purpose. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I guess the microphones work. Im glad you could join us tonight for our office night. Give you exposure to speakers and authors you might not normally see on your campus or dare i say it in front of a congressional committee. So we have kind of a different one tonight. Kind of give a little bit of a warmup. This young man contacted me to tell me he had this book. I said, can i read it. I got to admit, i had a wee bit of trepidation because the last time i tried to read a manifesto by the millennial it was 6060 pages and i could not make it past page six. You will spend the entire evening because you will want to underline. This young man has accomplished he just turned 30 and has already been a white house intern, talkshow host on radio in prime time in a topfive media market and the preacher by the age of 30. His story is compelling and inspirational, and i think you will get a lot out of this experience, and it is our sincere pleasure. All the things that comprise our office night are brought to you by a grant by the gaudy Fresco Foundation for which we are most grateful. The service announcement, after our speakers opening remarks he will take questions. If you would whine of the microphone to ask them. Having said that, it is my sincere pleasure to introduce to you dmitri is minor. [applause] good evening. Good evening, everyone. Thank you very much for the invitation. I am honored to be with you tonight. Well, it all started on april 1, 2014. It was the day before i was set to relocate to atlanta, georgia. I remember my father telling me to come downstairs because there was an important matter my parents wanted to discuss. I began to go downstairs or aa thought my parents would tell me how much they missed me. I could not possibly prepare myself for what was in store. I sat down on the couch. My father secret in his recliner across from me out of the words that would turn our world upside down. It was revealed to me that my birth mother she is reports of. Ellipsis to prevent from at least allowing a loving family to raise muniz safe and healthy environment. It was through this revelation the preservation purpose was born. Have a story to share. The laws were preserved by almighty god for divine purpose. It is not just me. There he was of this generation the testimonials of their own. While the restaurant iswhile the backgrounds may very experience of cleanup near the words of mine i am convinced we have been preserved not just for the potential preserved this great nation. America can be presumed. She must be preserved and sustained we will credit will take more than Just Campaign rhetoric politicians. Politicians. It will require this generation which is innovative, intelligent command created them anyways temperament conservative ideas and principles. But conservatism must be more just policy positions and voting records. It must become a lifestyle. The resurgence is on order because morality is neglected in one area of life and works of the other. Conservatism becomes invalid conservatism becomes question. The only vote for politicians who can trap themselves with this great philosophy. I generation has been preserved for this divine purpose, to serve a cause that is much greater than ourselves. Old media and our opponents will seek to highlight the things that divide us, we can seek Higher Ground and put an emphasis on the things that bring us together. Whether black, white, latino, rich, poor, democrat or republican, liberal, conservatives, we have republican, liberal, conservatives, we have all been given gifts and talents by god himself. While i purpose is to indeed hopefully our country back it will happen different ways. The medicalvings a nurse or physician. Some may find their purpose via government. After all, politics remind us that they are merely public figures. Someone in here could be the next speaker of the house. By the way things are currently going we probably need that to happen sooner than later. We must also change the narrative of the cultural and political divide that is upon us. We can do this without betraying our values and beliefs. What we must be willing to do is provide helpful, conservatives conservative alternatives to the main stream media and hollywood elitist that seeks to define our cultural status. We must define the narrative that temps to tell our generations that america is a racist nation and that we are intolerant of other peoples beliefs. In our desire to be respectful towards our fellow neighbor, we must not t disavow our allegias to morality. I myself would not join in the course of those believing that americas glory days are an afterthought. I still believe that with gods grace, our nations greatest days are still ahead. We will survive. We will see America Survey great purpose, not just nationally but internationally. Thats because of the individuals that are in this room. As Margaret Thatcher once said in 1979, two weeks prior to her election as Prime Minister of great britain, britain, we remain as we always have been a force for freedom. But still, still, the fires burning deep within us, ready tt be kindled and go forward again. And, if anyone is to doubt the question of the validity of your purpose, i simply remind you of the divine promise given to you in the divine scripture that you tells us that i have raised you up for this very purpose. That i may show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Thank you for coming, god god bless you all. [applause]. I think we will have time for q a. Ive read the book, which is obviously fantastic, but i know your parents. What was it like in the years after you lost her identity after you found out you were adopted. Have you met your birthparents . Have you done anything like that . Its very ironic that you asked me that question today. This past february, both my, i dont want to give too much a because i want you to buy the book obviously, but my birth mother and my adopted mother died two weeks separate from each other in the month of february and this year. Today wouldve been my birth mothers 59th birthday. Once it was told to me of this adoption, the normal rationalto response would be to become better and to distance myself, but i did not want to do that. I said theres a purpose for all of this. I can gladly stand before youlal and tell you that i have relationships with my biological brother and sister like we been best friends since day one. Instead of having a bitterte approach, i simply said, god god what is it that you want me to learn, and this past june, one of my biological brothers, his son and his niece, mind you, up until a year ago ago i didnt know they existed, i went back e home and i was asked to baptize. You never know what can evolve from a circumstance. If you have the mentality and the mindset to preserve for a purpose that is much greater. So i am still in the process of finding stuff out. People say how many brothers and sisters do you have . I said who knows. I have no idea, we could bethen related the way my Family History is. In my process of learning and growing, i just embrace it. Its easier said than done, done, but thats my approach to it. Did that answer your question . Yes it did. Anymore . My question is, whats next . Whats next. Im probably going to eat after this. I am finishing up my degree. I have three classes left in january. Then i i hope to be married next year. Then of course, ill stay up to date with the election. Not giving away too much from the book, would you tell us how exactly you made it from white house intern to prime time talkshow . I do want to make a clarification, i did intern under the bush administration. I did wonder if any of you wondered about intern under the current administration. How do i make that you talk radio . Well, well, i was in class one day bored out of my mind. Select the average College Student that is boarding class, i went to facebook and i thought let me open up Facebook Chat and let me see how i can make the time go by. I noticed a name there, tony wor powers, and i was like who in the world is this guy . I dont remember him sending me a friend request and im like what the heck. I said excuse me sir, i dont want to be rude, but how do i know you . He began to tell me that we had mutual friends in common and this that and the other. He said im a political talkshow host in town and im looking for producer. Hav i said well im to be honesterie with you, i dont have a lick of of experience in radio so im probably not your guy. He said oh really smart i can tell you everything that needs to be done and in a couple weeks you can have your own show. He took me to pf changs for lunch. That sold me right there. Gourmet chinese for lunch i was like when can i start. I was not satisfied with my current job. I was assistant manager at Sketchers Shoe company. I was like i dont want to do this for the rest of my life. I want to do something that i enjoy. He said well you can be my producer and whenever you feel comfortable you can have your own show. To be honest with you, the job actually fell out of the blue sky. I was not expecting the guy to take a risk on me as a young kid with no experience in radio. God opened up the door and kind of took off from there. County people in this room, if any, youve met the last two paragraph. Would you tell us a little bit about that . . I had the opportunity to meet president of bush through the white house internship and i was on the heel, during the internship and i happen to see dick durbin and then senator tha barack obama. I remember senator obama saying nice to meet you and he said so what brings you to washington . I said sir im a white house intern in the conversation was very brief after that. But it was still a cool moment. I had no idea he would run for president. Anymore questions . I do have books available for purchase. I would love to sign them for you. I think would be helpful, especially for us as millennials, politicians always try to cater to us and people from previous generations always talk about the voice as the millennial. We are empowered when we share our own stories. Its the people that are not in this room that are millennials that can contribute to the conservative call. If we dont reach our own, who will . [inaudible] [inaudible] thats a very good question. I think millennials are pessimistic toward religion for various reasons. I think its because of bad experiences on their part. I think that the church or the Civic Community has sort of had a negative mindset than toward millennials because theyre sometimes viewed as to trying to change our jobs and theyre smarter than us and theres the humility approach. When ive had interaction with millennials that are not religious, thats fine because i hope we can still find common ground. Just because the person is not spiritual does not mean i have a death ear toward them. In the midst of conversation and building relationships, i dont compromise my beliefs. I satisfy them and i still think you can build a relationship. I try to, i i try to have the best lifestyle i can to back up the rhetoric and backup my beliefs. I have found it to be much more helpful to approach people. You dont even have to tell them what your political ideology is because if you live the life it will manifest within itself. [inaudible] no. But i love d. C. I love the vibe of the hill. I love the Political Climate for couple of days and then im glad to get out. Im not thinking that god wants me to step back. Ive tried that in every door shuts. Im like okay, i give up. I get the message. What would you advise to upandcoming millennials . Id like to say im pretty well accomplished but theres a lot of Young Millennials here that are all unique and successful in individuals. What can you recommend to people on how to be successful in young circles. I tell people be unique, offer yourself, be authentic, tell your story. What is your advice . My advice is to be unique and to be confident in your uniqueness and, everyone in here has a testimonial of some sort. It varies. Its not the same. But to share it and build personal relationships. I think one of our problems as we focus on building a database rather than building relationships and then we wonder why we cant build the party. If youre waiting until electio. Cycles to build relationships, i wouldnt want to hear what you have to say. I think we we have to be personal with people. We need to try to find what it is you have in common with someone else. Its so easy to say this person is an atheist, i can be connected or this person like sports and i dont like sports so i can be connected with them. Dont get me wrong, we are defined by the associations that we keep so we do have to be careful with who we associate with, but if we ever want to grow the party and spread conservatism, we have to step outside her comfort zone. So thats what i think. Are there people in d. C. Who can help mentor you . Let me say this from, im involved with the church a lot. We had the governor of our state and my church for the most part is predominantly africanamerican. We had a white republican governor and senator, republican, visit our congregation. I had at least two people whod a had voted democrat and said i want to vote for governor dale. Really . Why . He showed up. That simple. N now this person went on and told his family he had become a republican and a didnt really go so well. He comes back to me and he says your neck in a believe this. I said you have to take it one step at atime. I said i appreciate you voting but it starts with that, showing up and being involved. I dont the gets rocket science. Sometimes we make it out to be but thats how you grow relationships. Speaking of the family who became a republican, would you talk about your own similar experience . Sure, without giving too much away. The 2000 election which was the infamous bush versus gore. My adopted father who happens to be my pastor who is africanamerican said this to me. He said to me just i would never try to tell you how to vote, but i will tell you this. Just because youre black doesnt mean you have to be a democrat. So obviously, that triggered something in me. I wasnt political. I wasnt involved in politics. So i went home and i did my own research and i thought by golly, im conservative conservative. And that was 2000. Its been a fun ride ever since. That sort of how i became conservative and thats how i became interested in politics. My initial interest actually happened in part because of the clinton, as a young child i read the newspaper and i had to ask my parents, is this really happening. You can imagine how they had to explain that to their son. The ru realized this doesnt really sound right. Following up on that excellent point, as is a lot of people here are starting their careers. Do you have any career advice or if you would like to ask some career advice right now, it would be a good time. I actually have another question that ties in with that. The chair of the National Republican party gave a report about where we went wrong. Where do you see minorities being played into this next election as conservatives, how we can reach out to younger minorities because i dont know if youve ever read the books by Barack ObamasCampaign Manager but they were veryk good and making sure they could reach out to that generation through facebook and twitter. What you think the party needs to do as a whole to reach out to that demographic . Its interesting because in the state of georgia i am involved with the Minority Group which is a sub division of the gop. I think we have a great message, we just have horrible messengers. We have people with the mindset but theyre not going to vote for us anyway. Were doing all we can. Im like no were not doing all we can. I believe it starts with, i believe the gop, when they approach minorities, they automatically argue. Im saying we have a lot in common. We care about our families and communities and their very spiritual minded. If we walk in with the mentality of trying to focus on something we agree on instead of things that drive us apart, i believe we will become more successful. A case important, just by the governor showing up to our church, that had a very positive mindset on our minority members. When you talk about issues like School Choice and criminal Justice Reform, for example, a lady in our church said i lovey. You demetrius. Your republican, but i still love you. So you know, we had a good crackle about it. Seven me ask you a few questions. We talked about traditional marriage and prolife. I said congratulations, you you are more conservative than you think. That right there, im not saying that the next will go vote republican, but i built a ba relationship with her. I built an interest in her and shes going to come back in one attack about issues and candidates. I think another thing that gets us in trouble is that were soo quick to give people history. Our history is very important. Its vital to our existence. They say okay lincoln freed the slaves, what are you doing now . People to want to hear about the 1800s. They want to hear about whats happening now and how that is affecting their family. How it is impacting their community. We just have to talk to people. They wont bite, i promise. My question is, myself as well as a lot of my peers arepls recent college graduates. Much congratulations. Thank you. As someone who has accomplished so much in so many different areas at such a young age, what advice would you give to someone who is starting their career if they dont know exactly what they want to do with their life yet. Ive been there. I still kind of a. M. First of all, what specifically are you talking about . I cannot tell you what your purposes. That is something that will come to you over time. I would encourage you to pray about it and thank god for it. I would encourage you to think among yourselves like what is it that im passionate about . What is it that drives me . I believe as you ask yourself those key questions, you will get an idea of what you are called to do. When you see some resistance at first, and when the results are not panning out the way they thought they would, dont lose faith. If god has called you to do it, you need to focus. The previous question. Senator paul has done a lot of work on this. You have any comments . On some domestic issues, i think he has done a fine job. He he goes to some places republicans generally dont go. Hes gone to detroit and taken on the proverbial and i applaud his efforts pretty sad about criminal criminal Justice Reform and things like thatt better so vital to the Africanamerican Community. Thats great, but every republican should be doing that. Every conservative should be doing that. Its a part of our platform and a part of our beliefs. He has done a great job in thath respect. My governor, he is sort of a National Figure within republican circles for criminal Justice Reform and has gained traction in the Africanamerican Community for going up and doing that and for trying to revamp failing schools and hes fought a lot of resistance from the left and he knows within his own circles. When you want to change something, and once you want to start a new, not everybody will be on the same page. I just want to thank everybody for coming here. He will be with us for a littler bit so feel free to check them out and his book. I also want to say that this evening is living proof thatome good things can come out of facebook because thats where i first met demetrius. This evening was also brought to us by a grant for the foundation for which we are grateful. Thank you for joining us, have k good night. Ve a there is more pizza. [applause]. [applause]. [inaudible conversation] book tv is on instagram. Follow us for updates and behind behindthescenes pictures and video. Instagram. Com book, underscore tv. Heres a look at some authors featured on book tv. Patrick kennedy talked about his struggles with addiction. Former senator and ambassador to the United Nations discussed why he believed religion can and the partisan how life has been all was. I thought that was important. Afterwards errors on book tv every sunday