And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Protesters across the nation have been taking to the streets and demanding change to our criminal Justice System in the aftermath of yet another failure to indict police for the killing of yet another unarmed africanamerican man. Joining me to assess what changes need to be made to our system, Brian Stevenson, founder and executive director of the equal justice initiative. Earlier this year he published a new book about this subject called just mercy. He joins me now from montgomery, alabama. Brian stevenson, always an honor to have on this program. Thank you. Delighted to be with you. Let me jump right to that central question. What now . Well, you know, i think there are really three big issues that both of these instances have revealed. Weve got a real disconnect in this country when it comes to assessing what the consequences of the presumption of guilt that follows too many young black and brown men are. I
Overwhelming against it. I was drug czar, director of National Drug control policy, 8 990. We didnt have this kind of research then. We had some, smattering. But now it is overwhelming, the harm that marijuana does. And i just have to believe or want to believe the American People are not informed of these facts. And so the point of the book was to get these facts out so they can make a second judgment on this, an informed decision. Let me get to the end of my story. I think in colorado which has been kind of ground zero here, that they will reconsider at the end of the day. Host uhhuh. Guest try to put this jeepny back in the genie back in the boding and recriminallize because theyre starting to see the results. You can watch this and other programs online at booktv. Org. And its day two of booktvs lye coverage of the Los Angeles Times festival of books. On your screen the campus of the university of Southern California, home of this 20th annual festival. Yesterday we covered programs
Los Angeles Times festival of books. On your screen the campus of the university of Southern California, home of this 20th annual festival. Yesterday we covered programs on journalism publishing, World Leaders and more, and today we continue our live festival coverage with author panels on u. S. History, california history and crime. Youll also be able to talk with authors such Azzam Quinones and ben shapiro. Theyll sit down with us on our outdoor set to answer your questions via twitter and by phone. Check booktv. Org for a complete schedule of todays events, and you can see schedule updates all day long at the bottom of your television screen. All right. We kick off todays l. A. Times festival inside newman hall on the usc campus. Youre going to hear from Claudia Rankin author of a book called citizen, which was a finalist for the National Book award. Live coverage of the 20th annual los Angeles Times festival of books starts now on booktv. [inaudible conversations] hi everyone welco
Claudia rankin discusses her book, citizen an american lyric, a finalist for the National Book award. Hi, everyone welcome. Im Bridget Mullins a professor here at usc in the master of professional writing program and im so thrilled to be here with Claudia Rankin today. An and i want to thank the l. A. Times festival of books curators for asking me to be the moderator and the interviewer today because there are so many amazingly qualified people on this campus at the moment, and im just sitting in the catbird seat. Couple of announcements before we start. Please silence your cell phones. And theres a book signing following this session. The book signing is located at signing area one and its noted on the festival map in the center of the event program. And that personal recording is not allowed. So i as i just mentioned i am so delighted to be here with Claudia Rankin. Just by way of introduction, how many of you have read citizen . Oh, great. [laughter] this will be a conversation. Oka
Graywolf Press, a notable independent publisher based in Minneapolis, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking a significant milestone for the small but influential nonprofit organization.