We will speak with storycorps founder dave isay out the new book called ties that bind. All that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Today in a democracy now special, we look back at a decade of stories from the oral history project storycorps. In 2003, the first storycorps recording booth open in new york citys Grand Central station. Since then, nearly 100,000 people have recorded interviews with their loved ones in storycorps booths across the country. Their voices are burned into a cd for the people who do the interview and their loved one, and then preserved at the american folk like ray center elaborate congress. Today, 10 years and some 50,000 interviews after its inception, storycorps stands as the largest collection of voices ever gathered in history. The leads of people have listened on public radio and online. Today we will spend the hour with storycorps founder dave isay and air some of his favorite stories from the past decade. First, lets go to one of the stories. In january 28, 1986, nasas Challenger Mission ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was this assist ronald e mcnair, the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in lake city South Carolina. His brother carl was interviewed by a friend about ronald and a storycorps booth in atlanta. For those watching, the storycorps story has been animated. When he was nine years old, wrong, without my parents or myself knowing his whereabouts, decided to take a mile walk from our home down to the library, which was public library, but also public for black folks. 1959. Talking about so as he was walking in there, all of these folks were staring at him because he were white folk only and they were, who is this negro . He positioned himself online to check out his books. This little librarian says, this library is not for coloreds. He said, well, i would like to check out these books. She said, young man, if you dont leave this library right now, im going to call the police. So he just propped himself on the counter and sat there and said, ill wait. So she called the police and subsequently called my mother. Police came down, two burly guys come down and say, where is the disturbance . She pointed the little nine yearold boy sitting on the counter. He says, maam, whats the problem . My mother comes down their prey in the hallway there, lordy, jesus, dont let them put my child in jail. My mother said, whats the problem . She said, you know your son should be down here. The Police Officer said, why dont you just give the kid the books . My mother said, he will take good care of them. Reluctantly, the librarian gave ron the books and my mother said, what do you say . He said, thank you, maam. Later on as youngsters, a show came on tv called star trek and it showed the future where there were black folk and white folk working together. I looked at it as Science Fiction because that wasnt going to happen. Ryan ronald sought as possibility. Strong and all those guys. How is the colored boy from South Carolina wearing glasses, never flew a plane, how is he going to become an astronaut . Ron did not accept societal norms as being other norms. That was for other people. He got to be a board his own starship enterprise. The library lake city was renamed after Ronald Mcnair 25 years to the day after his death. That was carl mcnair talking about his brother Ronald Mcnair who died in the challenger explosion. Were joined now by dave isay, founder of storycorps and author of ties that bind trico what a story. What a 10 years. Happy holidays. Thanks for having me on. Quick it is wonderful to have back. Will stop talk about ronald and carl. One of the interesting thing that happens when you have a collection as big as storycorps has become, the 25th anniversary of the shuttle challenger is coming up and we wanted to know if there is anything in our archive about the shuttle. Lo and behold, carl had coming to remember his brother. It and put it on the air and for those who view, we later animated this. You can probably find them on democracy now website as well. How did you get the idea to animate these . Before that, the conversations themselves, where they take place, like where carl was in atlanta . We have booths across the country were people can come and have these conversations. In some ways, you can think of it as 40 minutes to distill your life, if you want to think of it that way, we think of it as having two sides to it. The experience, which weve done is 50,000 interviews that is what storycorps is. We are a public service. It gives people a chance to sit with a loved one. No one comes to storycorps to get rich or famous. They come out of generosity and love. You sit for 40 minutes and have this conversation. Half of our slots are held for people who might not have heard of us through public radio or through newspapers, so we work with 500 nonprofits across the country each year so folks who are in the juvenile Justice System or Homeless People were immigrants come to the booth and have this experience with a loved one through organizations that serve them. To me, it being listened to, and you know this, it tells people how much their lives matter. A lot of people feel silenced in our country knowing their story is not only important enough to be listened to, but to be part of American History at the library of congress, which we know, of course, is important enough to be good but for people who dont know that, it can be very important to the sometimes a transformative experience. Proxy of a lot of different projects going. The national initiatives. The mcnair story was part of our grillos story. Is the largest collection of africanamerican stories gathered together. It has been a really remarkable 10 years. As we say, every time i come on here, it all started with you 25 years ago. You first came to Community Radio in new york. He made a phone call and asked me, we were running the news, why we hadnt done a story that particular day on a museum that a couple was establishing on the Lower East Side of new york. You said to do it yourself and here we are 10 years later. Thank you for that. And you walked in with that recorded conversation the next day. That is how it began. It is wonderful to bring you the stories of people talking to each other. Lets go to another one of the animated video clips of storycorps interviews. This is Ramon Sanchez who grew up in the 1960s in a small Farming Community in southern california. In kindergarten, it was ramon. By the time i was in second grade, everybody was calling me raymond. There was a girl named maria, her name became mary. Andjuanita became jane. We got a new student. Came to school, they called an emergency administrative meeting. What are we going to do with this guy . How are we going to change his name . One of the teacher said, why dont we try to shorten the name. Yeah, will put it facundo. They said, why dont we spell it fac. That means his name would be f acand the teacher said, that sounds too much like a dirty word. Where is fac . From a lettert school because he was ill no one who did not get his name changed. One of the stories from storycorps. Dave, this collection, quite astounding across generations, across ethnicities. It is america. About 100,000 people have participated. I think the core idea of storycorps is so important to the work you do. The idea of storycorps when you get down to it is that every life matters and matters equally and the importance of listening and recognizing with dignity and grace and the beauty of voices, stories we find all around us. Stories are hid in plain sight and all you have to do is listen to learn. Can you tell the story about mj . Storys is a storycorps from ties that bind which is a book about it is hard to get a storycorps slot now. Sometimes we will have 1000 people on a waiting list five minutes after we open reservations. People usually bring a person who is most important ally to the booth to honor them. Someone who is there during the roughest times or save them, whatever it is. This is a granddaughter who brings her grandmother to the storycorps booth. Her grandmother is both her poker partner she plays poker with her grandmother . With her grandmother. And is gay. This is the first opportunity that had a talk about this. This is mj talking to her granddaughter jenna about falling in love with her partner who is jennas biological grandmother. How is your life different than what you thought it was going to be . I thought my life was probably not one that was going to be worth living. There was this whole that i had all of my life because i never thought i would be able to walk along the beach and hold somebodys hand because im gay. Knew shell in love, i was my soulmate. What i mean by that . Yeah. Ive never felt that way about anyone before. From she got her divorce grandpa jim, she was very upfront with your mom. She told your mom she was in with a woman. As that was the first time that anyone was proud to say that they loved me. That made me the happiest i have ever been in my life. And then when i got to know your mom and uncle gaston. I knew i had hit her dice because i now have a family that i can wrap my arms around. Is there anything youve never told me that you want to tell me now . About mosti talk things, but this is the first time weve ever talked about the fact that i am gay post i guess what i want to ask you, does it embarrass you to have a gay grandma . No, it doesnt really matter because it just matters my relationship with you. I always tell you how much i love you, but i dont know that you can really understand the depth of it. You are someone that i never thought would be in my life and i can imagine my life without you. You have always been a child that makes up her own mind, and im so, so proud of you. Well, you are one of my favorite grandmas. You do a lot of things with me like right roller coasters and play poker. I dont know what life would be without you here. I love you, sweetheart. Love you, too. Mj talking to her granddaughter jenna. Love withwho fell in her partner who is jennas biological grandmother. Dave isay is with us, the founder of storycorps. We got a letter from mj after this aired and her granddaughter interviewed her as a project. She wrote she has been an activist all her life and she always felt like she was preaching to the converted, but with this interview through the mouth of this babe for her bat mitzvah, she felt like mainstream america had heard her and accepted her. That is one of the many beautiful things and their goals about what happens at storycorps all the time. Dave, can you tell us about william . This is an interview, youre talking about the grillo initiative earlier. One of the very first interviews we recorded was a man named lynn weaver who came with his daughter kimberly. He came to remember his father ted weaver, a janitor and chauffeur in knoxville, tennessee. He is remembering his father, ted. My father was everything to me. Difficultally kind of talking about him without becoming very emotional. Up until he died, every decision i made i would always call him. He would never tell me what to do, but he would always listen and say, what do you want to do . He made me feel i could do anything i wanted to do. I can remember when we integrated the schools that there are many times when i was just scared and i did not think i would survive and i would look up and he would be there. Whenever i saw him, i knew i was safe. I would always say your mama is the smartest person ive ever met. But i think my father ranks right up there as brilliant. When i was in high school, i was taking algebra and was sitting at the Kitchen Table trying to do my homework. I got frustrated and said, i cant figure this out. I father said, whats the problem . Algebra. Ts this he said, let me look at it. I said, dead, they didnt even have algebra in your day. I went to sleep. Around four clock you up me up. He said, come on, son, get up. He is sitting at the Kitchen Table. He taught me algebra. What he had done was set up all night and read the algebra book and explained the problems to me. So i could do them and understand them. To this day, i live my life trying to be half the man my father was. Just have to man. Success if my children loved me half as much as i love my father. That is dr. William lynn weaver, talking to his daughter kimberly. She was interviewing him. He was talking about his father and this was way back in 2007. Clocks those lucky enough to go down to the king center to celebrate with about 100 families who had recorded stories that first month in the griot project. In atlanta. Thats right. He was one of the people there we play the story and i got an email from him the next day that said, you will never know how honored and touched i was by the playing of the remembrance of my dad. A dry got home, i realized the evening of the griot reception was the anniversary my fathers death. Even in death, he continues to show me love. Foundationalof a storycorps story for me. Ted weaver, the janitor and chauffeur in knoxville, smartest, most decent person that lynn weaver, his son, who is one of the most esteemed surgeons in the country, ted weaver is the Great American hero. Hes the kind of person we should be building statues two, old and up to our kids as examples of how they can and should become. It is the centerpiece of this book. He tells us a credible story in the book about he integrated the schools in knoxville as he says and he and his brother were the only two africanamericans on the football team. They had an away game in the country and they went to this game. It was an allwhite team, of course, the stands were filled. She and his brother on a play tackle this kid and the kid was injured. The stands started to clear. They stood up and it was a right beginning, coming after these two kids, lynn and his brothers. The stands were on one side of the football field and lynn and his brother were backed up to a fence on the other side. The crowds coming at them. Theyre backed up against the fence and lynn turns around and he sees his dad. He turns to his brother and cap some on the shoulder and says, that is here, were safe. And they were. Their dad got them out of there. Whateaver he is storycorps is all about. It is such a privilege to tell the stories and keep these names alive and keep the stories in our consciousness, stories that remind us it is a must like what i hope happens is either participating in stories storycorps or listening to the stories, it shakes you on the shoulder and reminds you to all the nonsense, this is what is important, whats really important. Dave, were going to take a break. We have so many stories we want to bring folks. What an emotional day, what a moving day. Dave isay is our guest come a founder of storycorps and also author of a new book. He is been traveling the country ties that bind. Is marking its 10th anniversary. Stay with us. These are stories you will never forget. And then, maybe, you will start to record some of your own. Stay with us. [music break] a shout out to the kids, the fifthgraders of ps138 in Washington Heights were watching this broadcast today. Happy holidays to all. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The hour withg the founder of storycorps, the largest oral history project in the country or as i joked earlier, next to the nsa. A second to that, this is being done willingly and knowingly and with love. Dave isay, founder of storycorps , has these booths all over the country where people i was asking the kids, who would you interview . One kid said, my mom, my grandma. Talked about the kinds of questions they would ask her what they wanted to share. Dave, again, it is 40 minutes its a kind of ritual that is now set up. Explain how it works. You come to the booth with a loved one and are met i facilitate or who works with storycorps. Toy call it bearing witness these interviews. They travel the country collecting the wisdom of humanity. They bring you to this boot and use it across from your parent but whoever it is, for 40 minutes. A little closer than we are sitting here, two microphones, the lights are low. It is kind of a sacred space. You talk and listen and people tend to ask big life questions. Totalking about what matters you, what you have to live, how you want to be remembered. The facilitators tell people before they go in, they prepare before they come in to ask that question of always wanted to ask. A microphone gives you the license to talk about things you dont always get to talk about and ask questions you dont always get to ask. People, it is kind of a sacred experience. A tributeody, it is to the facilitators 50,000 interviews, it is a positive experience. I think if storycorps has changed me in the last 10 years, i think it is many much more hopeful. The facilitators always say when they come off the road, if you ask them what theyve learned, one is they will tell you if you think you can judge someone by how they look or dressed, if you think you can judge their interior life, youre always going to be wrong. The other thing they say is people basically are good. I think theres truth to that. You would not know it from watching 24hour news and reading the tabloids, but theres something to it. Lets go to this couple. This is a very recent story. Is a recentman who immigrant. She is a housekeeper in charlotte, north carolina. She cooks dinner every other saturday night for homeless men and women in her community. This is a christmas story, holiday story. Willie davis, who has been the recipient of many of those meals, took her to storycorps. She told him how she began feeding the homeless men and women of charlotte. Me, we werend driving and it was raining and really cold. We saw a guy with a sign asking for some help. I just gave him five dollars. My daughter said, mommy, why dont we take him to dinner . I said, ok, lets make a uturn. But he was not there. We were thinking, we have to do something. You remember the first dinner together . Yes, i do. It was christmas 2010. The church van came and picked some of us up from the mens shelter. Im like, why is this lady coming to the roughest place in charlotte and do this for us . Something must be fishy about this. But i said, im going to go. When i got out of the van, i saw you, a smile on your face and he made everybody feel welcome and comfortable. When you cook it was like my mom used to cook. I havent had that kind of feeling in a long time. I really needed that. That night i finished all the stuff in the kitchen and when i got to the tables, you guys altogether started singing feliz navidad. I thought, my gosh, youre so again in spanish and i started crying. Everybody gave you a standing ovation. Make us feel homeless. You know us by names and faces. We know you care. The homecooked meal put my selfesteem back up and now, own place. It is really amazing. And that gives me motivation because im here in the United States by myself with my kids. I know that is hard. That christmas dinner is not just a meal, you try to make you guys feel like we are family. Every other saturday is like christmas to me. Thats why i keep coming. Im going to keep humming. She is a housekeeper in charlotte, north carolina, originally from venezuela. As you heard, every other saturday night she cooks dinner for Homeless People including willie, who was interviewing her. Speaking together for storycorps. Dave, what a story. Yeah. These may be another typical stories you hear about Homeless People and undocumented immigrants, but undocumented people, but these are the kinds of stories when you take the time to listen, when you ask questions. So many times we will hear amazing stories, especially talking to military folks who will tell a story at storycorps, talk about their lives. Then he asked them, have you ever told the story before . No. Why not . Nobodys ever asked. I have to go to one of my favorite stories and we played before on democracy now as weve had you in for different holidays and specials. Valentines day and christmas and other times. This is early 2006 and it is 12 yearold joshua who has as burgers, interviewing his mother sarah. From a scale of one to 10, do you think are laughably different without animals . I think it would be an eight and without animals because they add so much pleasure to life. How else to think your life would be different . I could do without cockroaches and snakes. Im ok with snakes as long as venomous. Ot cockroaches are the inset we love to hate. Have you ever felt like life is hopeless . What can i was a teenager i was very depressed. I think that can be quite common with teenagers who think a lot. And my like that . Looks very much. Do you have any mortal enemies . I was in my worst enemy is sometimes myself. I dont think i have any mortal enemies. Have you ever lied to me . I probably have. What i try not to lie to you, even though sometimes the question to ask me or uncomfortable. Like when we go on walks, some of the questions i ask . But i feel special that you and i can have those kinds of talks, even if i feel myself lashing a little bit. Did i turn out to be the son you want it when i was born . Did i meet your expectations . Youve exceeded my expectations, sweetie. Sure you have these fantasies of what your child is going to be like, but you have made me grow so much as a parent with black eye was the one who made you a parent. That is a good point. But because you think differently from what they tell you in the parenting books, i really had to learn to think outofthebox with you. It has made me much more creative as a parent and as a person. And that helped when amy was born . It helps, but youre so incredibly special to me. Im so lucky to have you as my son. Was sarah being interviewed by her son joshua. At the time in 2006, he was 12. I had a to go to the 10th Anniversary Event of storycorps and they were there. Dave isay is with this, the founder of this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. After the story aired, kids as burgers are incredibly smart. He was obsessed with animals. They also get picked on often mercilessly at school. Letters hundreds of telling them what an amazing kid they he is and when he would come home from school after particular bad day, his mom would sit with him and read him the letters are he could remember how great he is. There are a few stories you have been involved people in jail or who were in jail and i want you to go to the story of rob sanchez. Can you tell us or set this up . It is also in the book. Ties that bind from the first 10 years of storycorps. Timeob sanchez was a first nonviolent drug offender convicted under the draconian rockefeller drug laws, spent 15 years at singsing. He got out and became a counselor. He counseled ex offenders. Exix was one of the offenders he counseled. Im not sure exactly what happens in this clip, but it turns out rob got very sick and felix decided to donate his kidney to rob. This is rob sanchez and felix, two men who were in prison together at singsing penitentiary upstate new york. Felix was coming to a Job Placement Center where i worked as a case manager. I think felix was 19, 20 years old. I was 20. Immediately i saw he was a pain in the ass. I could tell off the bat he was not going to beat around the bush. The and him click because once you do time, its like there is a bond. And i got hit with the kidney disease, i was sick and had no job. I was lonely. Then felix called me. We were talking for a while and you told me you had kidney disease. I was like, but you dont got nobody to donate, so here i am, im in good health. Plus, i wanted to do something good in my life are the first time. All ive done is mischief and start trouble. I dont start trouble, trouble finds me. Ive heard that before. I was like, whats up . Think i could get tested . Ive got test to so i dont know if i could donate. Your like honey yeah, right. You cap brushing it off. I kept telling you. The day i believed it was the day we went in for our last checkup and we were sitting down on andix has a jersey there are checking me, checking felix. Felix looks up and says, look, i want to do this. That is when i knew it was on. Thetimes when i will play Mega Millions and you dont know this and i lose, im ok with it because i felt like i want already. Because he saved my life. What greater gift is that . That was my 1 million. Andhat was rob sanchez felix. They did not serve time together, but they both served time at singsing penitentiary. What a story. Rob continues to do counseling. Felix, unfortunately, has gone back in trouble and is back in the penitentiary again. But that kind of bond is something that cant be broken. Lets turn to mary johnson, speaking with oshea israel who killed her son in 1993. Son was at aon party. Oshea israel was at a party and they got in a fight. He shot and killed her son. About 12 years into his prison sentence, mary johnson decided to go to the pageantry and meet the man who had killed her son. And went back several times and released come here developed a sort of friendship with mary that he moved in next door to her and about a year after he was released, they came to story corps to tell their story. These are all stories that the storycorps project has gathered. People talking to each other in booths all over the country. Again, this is mary johnson speaking with oshea israel who killed her son in 1993. Uni met at stillwater prison. I wanted to know if you are in the same mindset as what a remembered from court where i wanted to go over and hurt you, but you were not that 16year old. You were a grown man. I shared with you about my son and he became human to me. When i met you was like, ok, this is real. And then when it was time to go, you broke down and started shedding tears. The initial thing was to hold you up as best i could. Just hug you like i would my own mother. After you left the room, i the men whougged murdered my son. I knew instantly all that anger and animosity, all the stuff i had in my heart for 12 years for you, i knew it was over. That i had totally forgiven you as far as receiving forgiveness from you, sometimes i still dont know how to take it. I havent totally forgiven myself yet. It is something im learning from you. I wont say i have learned yet because it is still a process. I to you as i would treat my son and our relationship is beyond belief. We live next door to one another. Yeah, so you can see what im doing. We bump into each other all the time going in and out of the house. Our conversations come from, how come you havent called to check on me . You dont even ask a funny my garbage to go out. I find those things funny because a relationship with the mother for real. Unnatural son is no longer here. I didnt see him graduate. Youre going to college. I will have the opportunity to see graduate. I didnt see him to get married. Hopefully one day i will be able to experience that with you. Just to hear you say those things and to be in my life in the manner in which you are is my motivation. It motivates me to make sure i stay on the right path. You still believe in me. And the fact you can do it despite how much pain i caused you, its amazing. I know it is not an easy thing to be able to share our story together, even with a sitting here looking at each other right now, i know its not an easy thing. So i admire that you can do this. I love you, lady. I love you, too, son. Mary johnson speaking with oshea israel who killed her son in 1993. This is the part of the collection, part of the body of work, the unbelievable tens of thousands of stories that are being told all over this country in this little sacred space, these booths that travel the country, some in little trucks, some like the original one set up at Grand Central station, a booth. People talked to each other for 40 minutes and those recordings are shared with those two people and also go to the library of congress. Dave isay is the founder of storycorps and he is out the new book ties that bind stories of love and gratitude from the first 10 years of storycorps. If you want a copy of todays show, you can go to democracynow. Org. We are celebrating 10 years of storycorps. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. For those who are just listing, you can go to democracynow. Org and see these amazing images, for example, the mobile story corps booth. Storycorps is the largest audio history project in this country. How many voices have been gathered . , weve done 50,000 interviews so it is about 100,000. I think the exact number is 94,000 on 50,000 interviews. I thought you called them bubble booths, but you said mobile. You have these mobile booths. The one i was just watching was from the library of congress . Yes, video of when we launched nationally at the library of congress. These have been in all 50 states. I think we have been to 1700 cities native american reservations. Penitentiaries. Down at the world trade center. What we want to do is make sure we capture the full swath of the american story. I want to go to studs terkel. We interviewed him for years. He would come to new york and he Pulitzer Prize winning oral historian. You can tell us a little bit about him. The one of those times that we had them on democracy now , he was really here in new york to dedicate the storycorps booth at Grand Central station. For young people, especially, like we have fifthgraders watching today, who was studs terkel and why has he been so inspiring to your work . He did indeed launch or cut the ribbon on our first booth and there was no one else who could possibly do it. Was a world historian, a writer, a listener. Yet actually been part of the wpa federal writers project which in many ways was an inspiration for storycorps bacterin international. Recording writing. What did record, he wrote stories of everyday people. And wrote books like working and was a magnificent human being with a spirit of generosity and kindness that and storytelling ability that was unheard of. He said, we know who the grand architect is, but who babies floors and maybes walls . He didnt live to see how far storycorps went. Weve tried very hard to live up to his mandate since then. He was born a 16, 1912, in new york city. He grew up in chicago and was a real chicago guy. He was 92, 93 when he cut the ribbon on the first booth. Tell us how you ended up animating. We are going to play a stu ds story which is also animated. Once we pulled into someones driveway and it was studs terkel s driveway on castlewood and chicago. Youll hear him in the mobile booths in his driveway. He came out of his house. You mightve been 96, 97 for the time to record an interview. Lets go to studs terkel. What is happened at the human voice . Shining, quiet talking, buzz. I was leaving the airport in atlanta. You take a train. They take you to the concourse of your choice. I get on this train, dead silence. A few people are seated or standing. Up above, your voice. It once was the human voice, but now it talks like a machine. Concourse one fort worth, dallas, lubbock. Just when the doors were about the automatic doors, a young couple rush in and pushed open the door and get in. There not missing a beat voice above says because of late entry or delayed 30 seconds. The people look at that couple and the couple as if the couple had just committed mass murder. The couple is thinking like this. Im not for my talking. I say, george orwell, your time has come and gone. I expect a laugh. Dead silence. And now they look at me. And im with the couple, the three of us. I say, my god, where is the human voice . I just been a little baby, maybe about a year old, and i say, sir or madam to the baby what is your opinion of the human species . What does the baby due . It starts giggling. I says, thank god, the sound of a human voice. That was studs terkel. For those who are watching, you see the animation. Those listing, you just hear his brilliant voice to the Pulitzer Prizewinning writer and radio broadcaster, legendary in this country and around the world. Dave, tell us the story of how some of these oral histories. Animated. I have been a radio fanatic since the day you took my phone call storycorps is about having a conversation with two microphones. People have asked us to have cameras in the book forever. We will not do that. Theres an intimacy and a beauty to that. People forget about the microphones and melt into each others eyes and have this conversation. Cameras would not add anything. Also know we live in a visual age, so in the back of my head always thought that in order to reach the audience that we want to reach, which is all of this country some day, become a fabric of this country, that we had to find a way to add visuals to these things. One day a kid who was a facilitator came in my office and said, you know, i am a facilitator but i am also an animator. My brother who is this one teacher is also an animator. We started animating storycorps stories. I tried to throw him out of my office because it was ridiculous. Before i could get him out of the office, he slammed a dvd into my computer and his beautiful thing showed up on my computer and i saw there was a way that the stories from the magic of the audio, could not only be not subtracted by adding visuals, but could be added to. I think theyre gorgeous. You can see them on the democracy now site or storycorps. Org. Not all of them are animated. I want to go to one that isnt, but before we do, you start off in your book talking about your dad. I was wondering if you could share little bit about who your dad was. Sure. Before ied shortly wrote introduction to this book. And you knew him well. He was a gay activist and a psychiatrist. It was a real lesson for me because i recorded a storycorps interview with him two or three years after storycorps open. He was working 50 hours a week as a psychiatrist. On friday and was dead nine days later. He died at 7 00 in the morning. I listen to that entry for the first time at 3 00 in the morning on the night he died. Im an old dad. I have two little kids, as you know. I knew this was the only way they were going to get to know my dad. More strongly than i did, but at that moment, the rubber hit the road and i fully understood what we were doing. I was thought, well, your mom and dad, but your dad being a psychiatrist, listening to people i mean, that is your gift is the way you have listened. I thing more than anything, what my dad imparted in me was i found out that he was gay just months before i met you. I ended up doing the first documentary in honor of him, the stonewall documentary many years ago. Which folks can link to at democracynow. Org. I think what he taught me more than anything was to have respect for everybody. It is what the facilitator said, not to judge people, and especially to take a second look at people who are being picked on or people who are underdogs and make sure again that everybody is treated with respect and dignity. Cox dave, lets go to Alexis Martinez speaking with her daughter leslie. Cox this is Alexis Martinez who in aansgender and grew up very rough Housing Project in chicago. This is an interview between alexis and her daughter leslie. I think alexis only recently started or completed her transition. Cox Alexis Martinez speaking with her daughter leslie. When it came out to my mom that i was transgender, i think youre 13 or 14 and she call the police. I was remember that the Police Showed up they just laughed and told her, youve got a fag for sun, theres nothing we can do about it. By that time i had become a member of the gang. People just didnt mess with me because they knew they had a fight on their hands. When i looked back, i was a musk is a frantic because i would be wearing combat boots and blue jacketnd leather but underneath that would have on stockings and a bra. I remember the stark period. I didnt think anybody can love somebody like me. I remember as a little girl you would say things like, i know not love. I keep remembering, daddy, i love you. Such an important thing for me to express to you how much, she mattered and it was a big to do i discover some female close. It was uncovering the secret. You ask me why. I think if i had tried to cover it up, a lot of trust would have been lost between us. It was like freedom because now i could talk to freely about being a girl. Youre the one who taught me to put on makeup. I was really torn between being a female role model and a dad. I said to myself, well, be the best parent, whatever it takes, however i do it, you have to look out for your baby. But one of the most difficult things for me was i was always afraid that i wouldnt be allowed to be in my granddaughters lives. You blew that completely out of the water. You and your husband. One of the fruits of that is my relationship with my granddaughters. They fight with each other sometimes over whether i am he or she but they are free to talk about it. Max and to me that is a miracle. You dont have to apologize. You dont have to tiptoe. Were not going to cut you off. That is something i always wanted you to know, that you are loved. I live this every day now. I walked on the streets as a woman. I really am at peace with who i am. I wish i had a softer voice, maybe, but now i walk in love. I try to live that way every day. Alexis martinez speaking with her daughter leslie. We only have a few minutes and we are going to go where we always start with, and that is danny and annie. This is one of the first stories recorded in the booth and it starts with danny and annie who are both rocklin born and bred and they came to story corps the first days after we open to tell the story of their first date to which it happened 25 years before. I she started to talk and said, listen, im going to deliver a speech. The intergoing to want to go home. The city represented 34 letter word and that is love. If are going anywhere its down the aisle because im too tired, too sick, and to store to do any amn thing. She turn round and said, of course ill near you. From i dont see a note you i think something is wrong. But thats only if i dont have a pen. Danny and annie came back to the booth over and over again to record their stories. After that first interview, danny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. To come totorycorps his house to record one must interview. The interview the list is not hard on me, its just this analogy of it and he goes along like a trooper. Listen, even downhill, a card is a role unless it is pushed. You have given me a great push. The fear of it is, we try to give each other hope not hope that i will live, hope that after ipass pass, the people would support her, hope that she will meet somebody and likes who she marries. He has everything planned. Im working on it. She said it was her call. She wants to walk out behind the casket alone. I guess that is the way to do it because when we were married, you know how your brother takes you down or your father takes you down, she said, well, i dont know which of my brothers and i dont want to offend anyone. I said, ive got a solution. I said, you walk in with me, you walk out with me. The other day i said, whos going to walk on the out with you behind the casket . You know, to support her. She said, nobody. I walked in with you alone, im walking out with you alone. Heres the thing in life. Termsyou have to come to with time. Well, i dont come to terms with dying. I want to come to terms with being sure you understand that my love for you up to this point was as much as it could be and will be as much as it could be for eternity. Do you have the valentines day letter there . My dearest wife. This is a very special day. It is a day of which we share our love with which still grows after all these years. Now that love is being used by us to sustain us through these hard times. All my love, all my days, and more, happy valentines day. I could write on and on about her. She lights up the room in the morning when she tells me [indiscernible] so she can support me. She lights up my life when she says to me night, wouldnt you like a little ice cream or would you please drink more water . Romantic, butvery they start my heart. ,n my mind and in my heart there is never been, theres not now and never will be another annie. So this was recorded on a thursday and next friday it aired on the radio and danny. Couple of hours after the broadcast. Annie received thousands of condolence letters and buried a copy with danny and still to this day reads one of the condolence letters instead of the love letters she wouldve gotten from danny. Every day. We will in this holiday show 28 inthe kids of ps1 Washington Heights. They have all joined us. They are in the fifth grade. Dave, you do storycorps, people talking to each other, and i wanted to ask who would you talk to if you could bring them into a storycorps booth and what would you say . First, i would ask each of you to say your name. Rosanna. Star. Stephen. Raul. So who has a person you would want to interview and what would you say . Star. Name is i would like to interview my mom. Did shelike to ask her have a lot of friends like i do . My name is juan. I would like to ask my mom when shes going to come to new york . Where is she . Dominican republic. Dear mr. . Yes. What a treat it was to have you here. You just made it even more special and economic go out the show today. First we have to credit all of the people, the bigger family a lot of them are sitting right behind me in the control room. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]