George ward well not expendable this is why were here. Would have felt. Bad his name to it now being mentioned in south africa canada that ropey early and south korea europe because he changed the tone of this country not only the United States he changed the world George Clooney thinks the world. And theyre. Trying to get me to give them what puppet no just dont speak. Also coming up tonight his anger and his hope have come to life many times on the big screen the activists in film director spike lee tells g. W. News why his hope is now attached to one day in november where you see hope for the future hope i see it in millions of american history. Saying enough is enough i see hope and. It was hopeful on november 4th that they had the president elect. On to our viewers on p. B. S. In the United States and all around the world welcome we begin the day as one man is laid to rest leaving behind a world that is in unrest today george floyd was buried in his hometown of Houston Texas it ha
Im told me a lot of well welcome to the program we begin in the United States where more than 500 mourners have turned out for the funeral of george floyd a black man who was killed in Police Custody in minneapolis last month the 46 year old father of 2 died one after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes mr floyd is being buried it is native city of houston in the state of texas is killing sparked weeks of global protests and International Support for the black lives Matter Movement civil rights activist reverend al sharpton led mr floyds family into the church during the eulogy reverend sharpton highlighted racial inequities inherent in the u. S. Justice system mr floyd is being laid to rest next to his mother. Friends and Family Friends and members of floyds family spoke strongly and eloquently about the man they knew and loved but hear some of those tributes. We thank you for liberation we thank you for the life of joy its god that at a moment when he caught out fo
I am going to spend this memorial day thinking of all of those warriors who sacrificed everything for the nation they left. Im going to be thinking about my friends who never made it home from war. Im going to be thinking about the stories they told about their families and the hopes they shared about their futures. That doesnt mean just spending a 24 hours once every day with their memories, it means every day trying to meet the lives that honor sacrifices they made in the way they deserve. Right now, those of us in congress can begin to do that by ensuring our veterans along with all other americans have what they need to stay as safe as possible during this global pandemic. Even though Mitch Mcconnell is trying to slow walk the package claiming he has not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately but those im hearing from our not having trouble feeling that urgency. I dont know that kind of definition, including more than 1000 veterans have died in just three months. That qualifies
Before we proceed to todays hearing id like to take a moment to recognize last monday was memorial day. It was a different memorial day for me and other americans than normal and it was more difficult for us to gather together. But last monday gave us an opportunity, an opportunity that we should take every day to pause and remember the brave americans who gave their lives in defense of our country. And we honor the sacrifices they made to keep us free. While let me start by saying that the veterans we honored on memorial day, they served our country and that peaceful protests are a demonstration of the freedom our veterans served to safeguard and protect. And while we reject the defacing of our National Monuments i would take another moment to express my gratitude the National Park service, its employees and volunteers who quickly restored our memorials. All of them but especially those that recognize the service of our men and women particularly the world war ii memorial. I know that
At columbia i hope we are back together again next year and the way we annually celebrate these wonderful awards in the memory of one of the great nonfiction narrative writers of any generation certainly a great influence on the generation of writers that i grew up around and probably the folks being honored tonight. What we are going to do tonight is try to concentrate on the substance rather than the ceremonies since zoom is not a place to exchange awards and the like. We will have a series of conversations with our four winners and then when we are done we will take your questions in chat and try to wrap up in an hour using zoom best practice of not leaving you in front of your computer screen for too long a time, especially this time of day. For those of you new to the awards, we have a short video about j anthony with his prizes. People talk about book writing they almost always talk about the process of writing, sitting at the keyboard writing it down is in many respects not the