York city, this event is about 90 minutes. This is a great chance to talk about the book and get ideas and exchange and ideas from people. Ive been doing the book talks about the black history of the white house, one of the is gs that im discovering theres more and more that people are able to contribute. Being down in washington, d. C. , im getting more responses of book, but in the whats not in the book. Because people are saying, oh, grandfather used to cut grass at the white house, my uncle used to work there as a butler. Theres followup to the book that im going to try to do to eally capture a lot of these stories now that the book i think has helped to let people know these are important. Family stories but important for all of us. Et me thank the Harlem Public Library for having me and the human bookstore. Important institutions in our community and we should make sure we celebrate and herald the work theyre doing. Thank my publisher and y editor is here who is just superb as we went through the process. What i want to talk about the is about some of stories in the book, a little bit about how i got my motivation. Now on january 1 this year in a new law came into bans ethnic studies. In texas last year, the conservatives took over the review of the state board of changed the they rules so that changed the curriculum. So, for example, slavery is no longer mentioned. Longery changed it so no would there be references to the civil rightsof the movement. About two weeks ago in tennessee, the tennessee tea had a meeting with the governor where they wanted to hange the curriculum for the schools. So these questions that we think history questions about really are debates and they different about perspectives on how we has stand how this country evolved and who has been on what of of particular kinds questions. And as usual with historical about , often theyre contemporary issues. When they talk about well, the really about the states rights, which is not the were talking about politics of the day. The states rights is what the country erning as opposed to obama. Issues that im talking about in the book appear to be just kind of located in history. But in many ways, they really re tied into the issues that were dealing with today. And what i wanted to do is give trying to or understand and to realize whats he significance of having africanamerican on the black american on the white house in the black american family. 2007 and 2008, as i the lled not only around u. S. But around the world because much of what i do in my i k is international, and as went to brazil, as i went to as i went to england, people constantly were sk asking, whats up with obama . Can he win the election . Will he survive. A t does it mean to have black person in the white house . And one question that came up is is it called the white house. I could have given a glib answer it. E well, look at white people owned it. But as a scholar, you should do have a e research and more precise answer. O that initially started some of the beginning of the history of the building itself. Its an iconic representation of has been argued as american democracy, american freedom, liberation. But within that body, within that tructure, within institution itself, i argue it is carried all of these around race s throughout the American History from the construction of it all barack obama, obama, sasha and malia coming to live there. O as i began to do the research, and initially if i let me find a book, something. There was nothing there. Here was little there, it was scattered. As often done, theres a hole, i try to fill it. Me do a book. 150 pages, 200 pages. On. I can move but the book grew to about 550 pages. Point the use at one book began to write itself. A writer, you stopped writing. The story is expanding. T takes shape and pulls you in a particular direction. Thats what happened in this book. Theres one transformation that from early conceptions to what ended up being the finished product. Hats the narratives of individuals who have been in and around the white house. An each chapter opens with extended story about a articular individual whose narrative captures and embodies that particular era. To what i wanted to do was give voice and life to these ndividuals that all of us who grew up learning American History, black history, war istory, were never taught about. And were never exposed to. Are individuals who were critical in helping to the stand how contradictions around them really existed. Opening lines of the book more than a quarter of u. S. President s own slaves. At least eight of those have slaved while hey were president and those slaves existed in the white house. We were never taught this. E were taught about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and kind of the work they do democracy and freedom in the u. S. We were never told the other sides of the story. Knew George Washington had slaves. We knew Thomas Jefferson was sally it on with hemings. We had the story. But we didnt have the full context and full we didnt locate it in to the of the n in the history white house. And so part of what i was uncover were all of remarkable, fascinating stories about individuals who came through this process. What i want to do is talk a kind of t about that history, bring it up for and like that. Now, the white house itself, the we now call the white house didnt exist, of course; when the country was first founded. And, in fact, washington, d. C. Exist. T under the constitution and then under a specific act of congress designated that maryland would cede a certain part of their in which the nations capitol would be built. This would be a tenyear process because they were projecting this is going to be one of the grandest cities to exist in the time and it would take ten years to make this of the reason they said maryland and virginia is because these were slave states. Southerners who control the and dominated the colonies f the 13 sure that the south and slavery in particular was being protected in this process. Conceived this notion of the white o build house and the capitol in the whole city. Now, whos going do this building. Now George Washington initially europeans. Ted white and they put the call out but theyre not a lot of white want to get in a boat and come over to the new country rocks trees and throw out on the side of the road. So they had very, very little recruiting. So they turned to who they turn to, who build most f the grand buildings in this country in that period in the slave. Individuals built the washington and built the white capitol. The people who did unSkilled Labor, for example. Basically a s jungle. It was just trees. Trees, had to cut the someone had to drag them out. Someone had to build in roads. Hard, hard, hard work. This was mostly slave labor. Were also Skilled Labor that was carried on by people who were slaves. For example, we know at least five of the carpenters who built the inside of the white house, harry, john, paul, we have their names. Were black. They were enslaved. Now theres probably free black that was involved and there was, of course, white labor. Ut black labor, black slave labor is embodied in the structures of washington, d. C. The capitol and in the white house. Were burned down, again, they relied on slave that construction. Meanwhile, in the 10year process while theyre building issue ions capitol, the is where will the president and the rest of the government be . A short period there in new york, but eventually then they all moved to philadelphia. So washington and his entire house hold, including his black moved to l philadelphia. Ow, he had two problems in philadelphia. One was that it was the center Abolitionist Movement in the count are i. This is where you had the most number of free blacks, this is had the quakers. They were on it. Hey had set up the underground railroad. They were doing petitions, lobbying, fighting to get rid of right . Y, this is what George Washington hold into with his house of at least nine blacks who are enslaved. The other problem he had, in 1780, the Pennsylvania State governor grabbed the abolition act. Person who came any who was enslaved that came into he state, if you stay for more you could be s, free. A good deal. Washington didnt know this andre he moved to the state realized he had a problem. And so and we have evidence. He wrote letters to his staff saying i have a problem. To get around it because there was initially a law that said if the person left within that they came eriod when start e six months would all over. So washington had a plan to rotate people in and out of pennsylvania to get around the law. Eventually, they closed the oop, but washington continued to rotate people in and out. Now there were protests against who kind and others of petitioned him. Now this is where it really gets interesting. The individuals who was enslaved to washington was a woman named onie judge. Is my new hero of life. Was a young woman probably early or mid 20s who was a slave to Martha Washington. Helped to dress her, cooking, house hold kinds of work. Found out somewhere in 1795, was that Martha Washington planning to give her away as a gift for a wedding to one of her relatives. Ow, what this meant was that whatever promise the washingtons their slaves that at some point you were going be die wasnot when when he out the door. Onie began to make her plans to get out the door. Night in the spring of 1796, while the washingtons were in the living room having onie went out the door. You can see them calling her, wheres the suit, onie, wheres she at . Gone. S she made contact with the black community there. Clothes ed to send her and other personal possessions, she vanished. Discoveredt, she was to be in New Hampshire accidentally. Washingtons found out through a complete accident. Because even though as president of the United States and someone as was declared himself have lavery, you would thought he would have said, shes gone. Im representing the country. Let it go. Let it go. t so they went after her. Envoy. Tially they sent an hey were trying to do it in a quiet way. They sent an envoy down to sit with her. Onie, if you come back, well ork it out, all is forgiven, eventually well let you free. Freehe was like, well, im now. So i dont really see the point in this discussion. Back. T going so that program failed. Decided, well, the slave captures after her. Well kidnap her and bring her back. Warned and so she never so heavies able to get away. The washingtons never got her back. To slavery. Nt back she lived to be very old, well read. Er 80s, learned to became active in her community. Nd even though she never came back to slavery, the rest of her life, she was basically a laws of the n the country at the time. This is a young woman who basically challenges the most in the country. Not just some small this sh the president , the country at his beck and call. O driven by her own desire for freedom, not to mention she writes about or talks about the haitian on from the revolution which had happened in the early 1790s and whether you literate or not, every country knewin the about the haitian revolution. But shes also influenced by the american revolution. Think about it. Her and the people enslaved to the president and the president s, they were there moment when the discussion american s about democracy, american freedom, the principles of the country were happening. More of a ear and access to the acic discussions than any of he journalists, the scholars, those talking about the government at the time. Influenced . Y not be how can they not write about the ontradictions more profoundly than anyone out there. Most didnt have the opportunity to escape and get away. She did. Said one of the people who illry risk it all. She got caught. Wanted to punish her. Send her down to mississippi somewhere. It could have been really, really horrible. Said, ive got to go. All right . Story. Never told this there was another story of a erson in washington named hercules. He was was cook. Apparently one of the top five cooks in the country. He would have been up right . Because he was the man. And lurk lease was in asladelphia at the same time the time when Thomas Jefferson not only with sally who was but his brother his cook and who had been trained in france to cook off of the hook, right . Sally hemmings brother buys her freedom. Said, you can buy your freedom but train someone else o work for me before i let you go. Which he did. Hes in philadelphia at the same time as hercules. See this going on. He knew that he had escaped. Hercules takes off. Washington looks for him. Hercules is gone. We dont get these stories. Another character that paul s in this period is jennings. Paul jennings was a slave to the madisons. To john and Dolly Madison. Now he was there when they burned down the white house. N fact, the very day that the british were down the road and they could see the smoke coming buildings, he was in the white house packing stuff. An hour or f within so before the british got to the building and burned it down. We have details about this. Because he wrote a memoir in 1865. Someone who by work in the white house. He talks about his relationship ith Dolly Madison which is really interesting because when been a died, there had promise that he would be freed. Dolly didnt free him. Nd it took him a while, up until 1847 for him to actually but then he talks Dolly Madison went into hard times because all friends and family abandoned her. He had to bring her food, money, had to help take care of her. The worm had turned, right . That he f the things role t talk about is his in an 1848 slave escape plot in washington, d. C. One of the largest during the whole period of slavery. And what the deal was was that april that on a saturday night while there were going on d good times in the city, and this is a particular week because the city celebrating the revolutions that were taking place in europe. Abdication of the french mon monarchy. Other revolutions in other countries. Contradiction here. Theyre celebrating the revolution and they have all of these slaves. Parties, ving celebrating, saturday night and the individuals would come because on saturday night, many slaves in a were not didnt have to be on the plantation. Some freedom to move around, that they would come in groups of one and two down to the docks and they would get on a boat. And then the boat would take off in the middle of the night. The next day when it was realized they were gone, they would have such a head start they couldnt be caught. People started coming down. They started to get on tb boat. About 70, 80 people. On the boat and they take off. And theyre doing fine, be uh into a storm and then they have to pull to the side. Meanwhile, back in washington, out, someone ns who for different reasons, its been speculated, turns them in. And says, yeah, they escaped. Now the slave owners had gone and ey were they were going to put people on a posse and they were going to until they n foot found out no, they have a faster boat and they ended up capturing everybody and bringing it back to washington, d. C. And many people going deeper to the south and to worse kind of conditions. Who was involve in the plot with two other free black was not on the boat. And for whatever reason, he was tied into it. Until he died that it became clear he had a role in escape, right . These are the individuals in slavery that were fascinating never talked about, or told about. A black woman who lived in slavery and bought her freedom. She had a serendipitous life and she encountered all kinds of historic characters out of the lived. As it turns out, the person who she was enslaved to in missouri one of the lawyers who at the Supreme Court the dread scott case. Is the Supreme Court decision that among things they rights that ave no whites are bound to respect but find and it ry was accelerated the drive to the civil war. Just out kted to that of being connected. She bought her freedom, came to washington, d. C. In 1860. The first and she was starting her own business. She made dresses and she great at was really it. One of her first customers was vonea davis. Vonea was the wife of Jefferson Davis who became president of confederacy. Now in 1860. At the end of 1860, after washington was elected, all of southern senators and representatives started resigning. Because they knew war was coming. As far as they were concerned, this was the end of the union, were starting our own country, leaving. So Jefferson Davis also resigns. They were prepared to leave. Vonia comes to elizabeth and says, well, were leaving. You come with us . And when when he win the war and come back, you can be with us in the white house. Now elizabeth says that doesnt of a plan. Too good irst of all, i dont support you guys in the war. Second of all, no. Now, later on, she gets introduced to mary lincoln. She becomes her best friend forever. Theyre tight. More so, they bond as women. Sisters. As they become really, really, really close. The first n dies, person mary looks for is elizabeth. And mix on the white house during that same period, elizabeth had lost her son in the war. At several ed Different Levels and then after lincoln, hen mary similar to Dolly Madison was on this was d times, and the era when after you become resident, youm become a now, if you e like didnt come in rich, you werent getting rich coming out of it. Times and elizabeth was there quite a bit of the way. Of which a book some created strains between her and mary lincoln because mary felt was too much personal information that was put into the book. Now the other thing about her beth is beyond relationship with the lincolns, was very instrumental immobilizing and people who had left the plantations who basically war ed from slavery in the of who had all kind congugated to washington, d. C. Of thousands. S she organized for their relief. Active inwar, she was organizing for people who had come out of who were freed that period. After so these are like really fascinating characters of this period. So when the obamas get to the house, these are the ghosts. You know . Obama ten said that stands on the shoulders of incoln and kennedy and roosevelt, but hes also standing on the shoulders of individualsnd these who risked a great deal, who sacrificed a great deal in their lives and their stories need to be known, their stories need to be told as well. Stories. Hese let me open it up some for you guys. Any questions you have, any have, about the work i did and about the subject more generally . Yes . Standing on obama the shoulders, thats an appropriate end for this discussion. Essay on whydid an she supported obama. One of the things i was touched discussed ing you more in a spiritual way that a toiled he africans that and slaved and died building that white house that they were waiting for him. That was one of the most powerful statements that made. Be the other point is the things dont know it is unfortunate a lot of people a t know these stories, but lot do. I had the privilege of going to city college and having one of African Studies department in the country and this kind of thing, we Better Believe it. Inaudible ] my grandfather lived to be 100 and well, no. Important to know. Encouraging people to write to find ways to let these stories be spread, around our families. And the stories that, again, family be just sort of stories but really tell stories of particular localities, communities, nations stories. I argue this is not black this is American History. And its part of the american been y that has marginalized or excluded. Resurrection of this is to not say this is something separate from the gives youut it really a kind of basis of having broader understanding of how the country has evolved. Yes, maam . [ inaudible question ] the people that you discovered in the course of book, is there any i know you cular talked about one that really stands out to you . Are a lot of people who stand out. Decades writing about black politics and black history and like that. A lot of it ook, was great discovery for me and finding the individuals who were in the pockets of history that nobody knew or somebody newspaper, but you know were not popularized. There was a character named Benjamin Parker who in standing in line behind getting hist who was ready to assassinate william mckinley. Fter the festival, world festival, world fair. And mckinley is standing there. Security behind him. Secret service and the police, and theres a guy standing there wrapped in a band aid which is hiding the gun, and big black guy standing is parker. Which the secret service and the olice should be profiling this guy like whats the deal with him. Theyre not paying attention to this big wrap around his hand, right . And then on 1901, roosevelt finds out that booker t. Is going to be in town and invites him to the white house for dinner. This is the famous dinner where white south goes berserk because the fact that the black eating at the white house nd voeltzs daughter and wife were there, so black man eating at the white house with white becomes completely unacceptable. Across the orials country denouncing roosevelt, president. So roosevelt backs off, initially they try to deny that there. Gton was even but they had issued a press release. So you couldnt quite put the back in the bottle after that because your own evidence says that he was there. Basically means nobody black is invited to eat at the 20 e house in like another years. And if you were to go to the white house in that period, coming in the back door if youre coming in at all. This is october 16, 1901. 17, 1901, the very next building is he officially designated the white house. Conjuncture of these events takes place of this is lynching and d of the high period of terrorism against the black Community Across the country, not just in the south. So all of this kind of comes together. Of things e the kind that i discovered along the way. Its not stion is surprising about racial profiling. This has been going on, as they say, for longer type. Youre black, youre out there. Now my other question, the other happening inhat is texas now . I dont know if you could elaborate on it. But if they have taken history out of the book about blacks. Texasbout the citizens of who are black . Well, texas is very disturbing for a number of reasons. Its the largest book buying state for textbooks. The publishers base happens isions on what look liken what books that go out to the rest of the country. If they constrict and rewrite books in texas, it has a Ripple Effect kind of across the country. He changes that are proposed are being challenged. Ear how far they will have an impact because it was basically conservatives including mostly tea partytypes who dominated decisionmaking body. But they were like hundreds of on. Ges that were going but this is what were seeing in arizona is spreading around country. So not just to texas and but to other places. We see this, for example, around the issues of the confederacy. Throughout the south, theres a concerted effort and were in anniversary of the civil war period. 861. Tarted 150 years ago. Theres a concerted effort to the causes ofn of the civil war that are basically what really ith happened. So, for example, theres this rights was at center. In fact, the southern confederacy was opposed to states rights. Now, what happened during the constitutionof the states rights were mixed in. To affect h its how slavery, however, theres National Issues we should want protection. Rnment so the fugitive slave law, for xample, fugitive slave clause and then 1850 and 1793 fugitive opposed to the states rights. They absolutely said if you escape slavery in mississippi you go to massachusetts, if you committed murder, you can be extradited or massachusetts has the decision to not extradite you. Escape from ou slavery, you can be brought back. That hat happened was these states in the north began to pass their own laws and not enforce the fugitive slave laws. Secessionist e doctrines from south carolina, mississippi, north carolina, states ally name the they believe are violating federal law. Not only the on escaped slave clause, they focus theyre opposed to the abolitionist societies in all of these states. Since they argue that slavery is protected by the onstitution, if you have an Abolitionist Society in New Hampshire or new york or vermont r any of these nowhere therapy states, theyre committing treason. Because theyre going against the constitution. They opposed d the states to allow africanamericans to vote. Right . Saw these as anticonstitution. The what we hear from eoconfederates is that the civil war was maybe slavery had something to do with it. Maybe it didnt have anything to do with it. And it was really about individual rights. Rights, overarching government. Which is exactly mirrors the the tea party and these right wing conservatives who make it the same argument problems in the country are these overreaching, ov ov overarking Big Government headed black man, to put a point on it. You can see the parallels that are evolving. Are in a battle over ideas and in a battle of a battle over and meaning because we cant afford to kind of sit back and think there will not not be these other arguments out here that ultimately have an impact. Because how you think about history, how you think about the country has evolved, what issues have been resolved nd not resolved impacts on the political atmosphere and public policy. So it becomes real critical really fight for a an understanding of this process and really is inclusive really takes into account these other issues that people want to write out. We all know, we listened to bachmann, representative Mitchell Bachmann just the other week when she response to obamas state of the union address. Now, this went out to millions. Respots went out to millions. Cnn for some stupid reason put air. On the went out to millions. And she said, the Founding Fathers and everything they could to try to end slavery. Absolute nonsense. Its absolutely untrue. And it tells ces the perspective that has to be countered. Have an ve to alternative perspective to that. Yes. Your remarks just now make me the controversy recently over the writings of mark twain and the use of the some of the in the famous texts and how extremists want to redact the omit the ranscript to word when twains purpose of sing it was historically accurate and had all of the negative implications, you know, it traditionally had and he used it for that reason. Amazing to me because a lot is not youre saying now so deserving to me that they put was when e out as it it went unchallenged. I think what theyre trying to a better the lack of way of putting it, whitewash so that the evil of slavery and all of the the right now live with cannot be adequately dealt with. O me, thats the most frightening thing. Let us remember. His happened at the beginning of congress. For the first time they decided they were going to read the constitution. Now, what they suddenly begin to realize as the moment neared is that the original constitution right . E problems, it had the 3 5 clautz that said in slavery who held 3 5 of a counted as person to appropriate the in congress. N it had the slave clause, the lause in constitution that allowed for the slave trade for another 20 years. So once the republicans realized they actually read the original constitution, they open ugly gates and ou need to decide what people are going to do with mark twain is youre not going to read the parts that are embarrassing. How ridiculous is that if youre trying to educate the people and the Constitution Constitutional democracy. He reason they wanted to do that kind of sensory is because to educate e is not ut actually to propagate, its to advance a particular political agenda that has nothing to do with to the degree people really need to understand he constitution in all of that history. That is secondary or not a concern at all. Its really about we want to that were constitutional and the democrats are not. Were upholding the law and everything were doing fits and the democrats are outside of that. That becomes it real objective. Ed other points . Yes . [ inaudible question ] traces the chapter gene i dont go of Michelle Obama. The earlest tracing goes back to the 1850s. A young woman who is raped. If you trace history, it becomes again. Nd time if you have a black person in the white house, this is the that we need to know, that we need to have a grasp of. Yes, maam. To write spired you this book. As i mentioned, as i talked obama. Le about as someone mentioned, it was about just obamas inspiration u. S. And in the africanamericans, but globally. So when people were asking me obama, this is with and ation and with hope with the idea that if obama becomes obama president , this has an impact on us in brazil. Impact on black people in england. It had impact on people in egypt. Right . World, not only is it kind of a repudiation of years. H but to some degree a repudiation history, much of this some of this was idealistic. Expectations. But they were root in what people saw and felt even without of this journey of afterry karen americans from all the way through from getting to the point where you could get somebody in the white house. Say in the book, whether he turns out to be the worst greatest or the president , separate from that, this breakthrough and what it meant for people around the world, it inspired people of frican dissent in russia, canada, italy, brazil to run for office. In 2008 because brazil has a weird law that you can run under you choose, there obamas that eight office in brazil. They all lost, but they ran. Activists now in brazil and other places who be n to see that there may some value in being engaged in political cy, activism and movements. Deal goes outlicy with obama, that journey has had uch a meaning, such a significance, that its just break nd of a major through. As i was getting all of this, i was trying to figure out whats context . Felt there was a lack of comprehensive work. More books out on obama than lincoln. Only two years in office. Only hundreds of books out on obama. Framed this hem and particularly the white house as an icon. Of a way to say some things and a way to kind of get into the issue that i didnt see out there. Yes, maam . To reading your book, do you where did you get the resources to find out that youre on talking about . Great question. A lot of it was digging into the the file. Nd reading president ial biographies. Biographies of 30 biographiesst of president s. The road, you down eading history like John Hope Franklin across to bennett. But a lot of it was sort of what people. Rom i was at a ple, party, you know clayton lareau, on the wire and the baltimore series. Telling him about it and he said well, make sure tom. Rite about blind i said blind who . He said blind tom. Hes an important guy in this. Black person to be invited to entertain at the white house. I was like, okay. Doing some research on blind tom. Theres not a lot one woman wrote her entire academic career about blind tom. She wrote three books, good stuff. I tracked them down. Two of them are out of print. I found them eventually. Third book came out on blind tom. And mother s born and phatever were both slaves. Both sold to one family called the greens or the wiggins. He had all of these different names. They sold him to one family and for basically threw tom in along the way because the family said, well, we dont see how we use him, but bring him along. So toms mother and fathers were tom would be in the house kind of crawling around on the floor and theyd literally the pet dog. Ike put food out and just leave him. The family had a piano. Family took in the classical piano lessons. O one day, the familys having dinner and they hear the piano, hes like four years old, jamming to the classics. Prodigy. Sical anything he hears, he can produce music, vocally as well. Family do . He they exploit him, right . Wow, blind tom. O they create a whole career for him at the age of 6, 7, 8, and hes travelling around the doing performances and hes brilliant. Hes considered one of the most composers. Hes up in washington for some reason and he gets up being white house, president buchanans white house and does a performance. Hes the first africanamerican than people who were slave, for example, who may have performed, but the first africanamerican to perform at the white house. This is information that i was having this discussion at a party. I was at the grocery store. They asked if i heard of abraham bouldin. First the africanamerican to be on the president S Secret Service detail. Crazy story because bouldin was a state trooper in chicago. Was elected and he wanted to expand the service, he ended up hired to be secret service. He was attached to the secret Service Office in chicago. Es working and kennedy comes to chicago. Theyre going to provide security. And in the place they provide security, they put bouldin in the basement next to the toilet. While kennedy is doing whatever, right . Kennedy has to use the restroom. Hes standing here, he hears all of the noise. Here comes kennedy and the whole crew. Sees him and says, are you Chicago Police or what . Service. Im secret he says, would you like to work on the president ial detail. This is kennedy, new camelot, inclusion, all of this, right . So bouldin go, yeah, that sounds like a good deal deal. So a couple of months later, sent to washington, d. C. It turns out, secret service is racist to the core. Day there, someone leaves a noose on his desk. N word him the routinely. When they travel, he has to be housing. Ated this iS Secret Service. E has to be in segregated housing he says, you know . This is not work for me. Chicago. Back to he goes back to chicago. Now, 1963 comes around. Assassinated. Now bouldins take on this is hat one, the racist secret hadice people in washington told them they would not give their life for ken dip because what kennedy was doing for the colored people. This is something he thought the needed to ission know. They thought there were two plots to kill kennedy, one in one in chicago in october and november of 1963 also the Warren Commission being told about. Bouldin starts complaining to need to iors that we get this information, no, no, stay out of this, no. So bouldin decides hes going to give information to the Warren Commission. So he comes to washington, d. C. Find out aboutrs it. They ended up arresting bouldin, taking bribes th , he goes toher case jail. Secret ack man on the Service Detail goes to jail for three years. Part of which was a mental institution. I never knew this story. Most of us didnt. Issues tied to bigger because part of the reason they ent after bouldin was because bouldin would have exposed something called operation amworld. This was a plot by john and kennedy to assassinate castro in 1963. Information has come out because under the president ial ocumentary release assassination papers released ct, a few years ago, they finally started releasing papers on the kennedy assassination. Papeerns were detailed descriptions of amworld. N this proceeded at the bay of pigs . Bay of pigs. The by it was a clear plan in cuba to carry out this assassination. Bouldin would have exposed that talked about the other plots and moved the investigation in that direction. Alive . He still yeah, bouldin he wrote a book. Long, title. Hes trying to get vindication. With the new papers that come out, theyre going to support his story. Es not going to get the three years that he went to jail. He was literally railroaded. When hep went to trial, the judges the instructions to the jury was that basically this guy is guilty. You guys go deliberate. They came back in the first no. Al and said a second trial, same judge, they found him guilty. Have a singlednt blemish on his record at all up to that point. People who testified against him recanted their thing. The whole railroaded him in prison. How long b did it take to gather your information . Years. Sually say 57 because in many ways, these are stories that all of our life we had to step back and deprogram from. Yearstually like 2 1 2, 3 f just kind of digging and digging. Again, the book started to grow, own ed to drive its narrative. So it was out of my control at a certain point. But yeah, it took about that long. Yes . Wheres the book being sold . You can get online, of course. Citylikes as t at well as amazon. And its in the bookstores. The second and so it will be available. Nd unfortunately, i literally left my copy. I was reading it with me in the car rushing to get on the train. From the picture there what the book looks like. And the cover is from its very famous photographer named johnston who took pictures of many actually famous africanamericans. Booker t. Washington, people like that. From 1898. Easter egg hunt started under president hayes and it was initially at the capital. Started congressmen talking about the kids tearing up the grass or whatever. So they moved it to the white house. It became one of the few where you had integrated public events. Thats why we have the black child and the white child together. Of this Easter Egg Hunt on the grass, and that segregation was like pretty rigid. His was two years after the plessyvferguson decision that said session rele gags is legal across the country wants to implement it. And two years before the last black member of congress was office and there would be not another one for another three decades. Any other questions or comments . This is a personal question to you. I noticed that you youre wearing your wedding band. How did your family deal with you through the process of you your ing all of information. I assume a lot of time was taken up. Yes and no. I try very much to have a balance. 22 month old son, right. So during the time i was writing this, he was really young. On so i had to make sure i take time with him. Much as he was demanding my time as much as i was demanding his time. Its like my kid, right . I want to play with him while i writing. E help him try to walk when i should be editing. To have balance. But, you know, its demanding. Nd, you know, its at the end of it, you breathe a sigh of relief before you move to the next project. You know but thats what i do. It was there was it was working closely with my editor. Orking with other people getting sending it out to people to read and get comments and things like that. Collective ays a work as well. I have two quick things in plessi versus ferguson, surprised things that me is i mixed up which one is was a fair skinned black man. And what indidnt know in looking back at that was the why that case was so important was because it was to pass. Gh and thats the whole thing about, you know, how much black blood, you know, if a person has to be declared black and therefore inferior. Because a lot of classrooms they talk about plessi versus ferguson but not the ugliness of the color controversy that is still with thing, whats the next project . Oh. I have several. Book looking at the intersection of jazz and politics. Nal and basically looks at how over century of jazz how its een appropriated and countries around the world. And ive been to about 60 pretty much nowhere ive been where there hasnt been a jazz culture of some sort. Telling somebody the other ay and its another whole story i was in north korea. Nd the north korea marching band was playing some jazz. I think they were doing like the something, right . And just kind of all over the world, rite . What does that mean . How are they processing that . Do they see it as American Music door they see it as black music. Do they see the roots of it . See it as blending in with their music, a challenge to music. Is it cure, is it all of those questions. I think a class called Jazz International regularses. That i e questions explore in my class. Theres not a comprehensive work see jazz and to articularly use it in the concepts of international elation demock are atization, neoliberalism, capitalism, all of the terms as a way to how jazz exists. And then im working on a book looking at what my colleague and i called Disaster Impact on and its marginalized communities in the United States. Theres actually a lot of good thats come out that really kind of draws the link that hats happening locally in our communities really is embedded in the macroeconomic changes that are going on. His is one of the issues i think, for example, around egypt it needs to go. And political corruption of that needs to change. Ut short of all of that, its tied to the Global Economic structure really are the that kind of at this point doesnt matter whos in there. And also those get addressed, the reasons that many people are rebelling that they ont have opportunities, they are getting educated but there are no jobs available, those are a ones that are tied in to great degree to a global structure. Working on a book on that. Postracial king at blackness in asia. Nd looking at kind of the africances of people of ecent in asian countries, japan, china in particular. Im going to do some research there. The stuff some of im working on. On your research concerning you take the time to read a period call that was freedom waves. Yes. Excellent. N article by benjamin, one of my favorite writer, written 1980 survive. Ill jazz i think its a must read. Benjamin, 1980. In terms of postracial to check, you may want out a site. Theres an historian, a brother ronika rasheed who african es in the presence in asia. I had the pleasure of meeting him when i was a young student city college. Go to his website. I dont know where hell be in hes always ause ravelling throughout the orient. Asheed and that is pretty much his research, the african china, in japan and etc. And hopefully maybe hell be down in the d. C. Area because hes down there pretty often too. So thats my gift to you for a afternoon. Htened okay, thank you so much. Would absolutely followup. My question is what ways to you think you can project these of information to the young africanamerican ommunity being that, you know, were the up and coming. We have to pass everything you can project it. Well, apparently i have to do facebook and the internet. A very different way of publishing now. But its become inevitable and inescapable. Working with the publishers. They put up facebook pages and pages. T but im also thinking about this as well. Exact question youre asking, how do you begin reach through the mediums that are available now, the kind of audiences that not going to pick up a book. A deal not that bad of that people dont that people are going to get information in different ways. That and breakss for us older guys kind of the have been comfortable but ut really become, become more modernized. O i think, you know, im exploring that as much as i can. And ive been writing articles gone up on the internet. I dont really have a blog. I have things that have been blogged but i need to work on a site myself. Im counting on my 22 month to actually deal with this. Ipad that he uses more than i do, right . I suspect in a couple of years, you know, how do i get this to work . So thats the deal. The question. There needs to be avenues as well for young people to have interchanging and nteractions, kind of generationally. We havent been creating the have and the we institutionals, not just sort of a oneshot deal over the ways are on going, multicross and ational dialogue discussion. And debate. Little bit to know a about your journey as a writer. The seed of it, when it began. When did you find out that you were a writer . That all come about . 1967, we had the race riot in detroit in july. Few blocks from my house. Really hot. Eally, it was like 95, 97 degrees, and like midnight. Y mom and sister went out to the main avenue where basically all of the action was going on. Wed be there for a short while. Take out a shotgun and started firing. Everybody gets shot except for me. My mother gets shot, my sister gets shot. Fortunately they both survive, you know, the injuries were really, t not to be really serious. But this was like when i was 12. The city tries to consider and try to figure out. In the interim was that people who were my age were taken off of the Streets Community the centers. And we were learning to do all kinds of community services. Of which was putting our community newsletter. Learned to hen i write. People were saying, well, your should agree. Erbs you should make some sense in this newsletter. Say, is where i began to oh, yeah. Maybe what i learned in school maybe does have utility. Thats where i began to like to write. A i never thought of it as profession or as a career at all. S an undergrad, i majored in communication but not in journalism. By teachers kept me going to and i kept refusing. I never in essence saw myself as a writer. Ive seen writing as my to have an to try impact. Sing, i could dribble, man, i wouldnt be standing here. But given that, you know, my is literacy, so you know, that, and basically not been a that i havent been writing, even though ive had many, many other kind of professions. Has a judgment and a president. Think i think the image of Michelle Obama and and the two girls is as powerful image anywhere in the world. They are eryone knows basically unfailble. Their love of , the family, their kind of of jumps off ind the screen at you. Right. A embedded hink is image that this country has for decades. That you the way in which the been demonized throughout American History, the ay black women have been demonized through black history. The way black children have been history. In black this all kind of counters that. Its going to be row mant schism. Had is a real family that to go through a whole lot and what theyre going through kind threats that theyre to ng that were not privy and theyll live with every single day and will be living of their days, but theyre committed. Country,t to change the move it in another direction, thats what it is. Thought the best thing is little sasha speaking chinese, you know, to the premier. You know . Just an amazing image. Know . But it also is reflective of in the 21st ng, century really is more than just what it has been. Do you intend to do a documentary . Or is that within your realm of doing things . Within my realm of expertise. I dont know. I mean i think there are book really do visual in many ways expression. So i dont know. But the stories and the stories i was telling a lot more are just kind of fascinating. It would be really something i would love to see kind of up on the screen. If you eeping the book started the my ideas started before. Because again in 2007 when started to explore being president , it already electricreally kind of idea. Nd once he announced at the beginning of 2008, then well, i guess it was 2007, then it was a story to follow, even if he win, i thought because it epresented a leap or a departure from the jackson and campaigns. On and those had been important but those of course were built on the show campaign. Building process thats going off and president there and out remember when obama announced it tavis smiley at was having his annual state of Black Country thing. Whatever that was, right . Displeasure s some in illinois in springfield where announced, basically, and not in, i think they were in north carolina. So his argument was im not you guys, but im saying im the president of the whole country. It includes you guys, but it includes everybody else. Sending is age im were in this to win. Were here to represent the interests you have at that the interest theyre having in meetings in barrios in texas, all ettos in over the country. And were going to go down this road. Kind of y you get this departure that as political significant. And then you start to see the in the polling from overwhelming majority of support for Hillary Clinton by the black Community Start shifting towards obama. He won of it was when in iowa, but i think even beyond shift was already happening because people were seeing something very different nd he wasnt the black candidate. He was the candidate who was lack, who was raising kind of profound issues. And particularly in the it was h atmosphere, really kind of significant. So even before he was elected, know, i was starting to try to get a handle on, you know, was this guy . And what does he represent politically that may be different. Reaction to his presidency. Sequel to your book . Or a book that only deals with the reactions of the various to his presidency . Especially considering the whether the , reaction to a certain segment of his hite community to presidency . Im thinking about it. In i need to find a way thats different from the dozens that are out there already from black scholars to white scholars, from black white ists to stop talking before. Workingof the books im on is looking at comparatively, area is comparative politics, the impacts of resident oh whats policies on racial equality compared to the former president lula in brazil. Lul as impact on the africanamerican politics. Many ways, theyre comparable. Terms ofoth off of the black ground. Ula comes from a very impoverished background, fought education when he was elected and polarized the country. Because the southern part of razil which is disproportionately white and were not uese said going to have this lower class man representing the country and he lost all of the south. The but the north, which historically is marginalized, lula. To have because lula represents the working people. And so he won. He began to on, bring changes. And lifted millions of people out of poverty. Dialed it cessarily to the brazilian population. Some of it has, some of it hasnt. Thats the story to be told. And it parallels obamas tenure, the question is is obama going to be two years or is he going to be eight years. Or two more years and six more years. So if obama gets reelected, is on hold because the book ally seeing is not obamas book is not complete yet. Its basically seeing kind of what happens. So already as we know the surge twoublic racism in the last years is unprecedented and hings that we thought were in the past manifests on daily basis. On all of those, the leaders of the republican party. So all of that, i think, has hough get processed at some point. And again im thinking of it to some degree on comparative terms. Good question. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming out on this day. [ applause ]