Transcripts For CSPAN2 Bakari Sellers My Vanishing Country 20240712

Anchored in his hometown of denmark, South Carolina, my vanishing country illuminates the pride that continues to fertilize the soil in one of the poorest states of the nation. He traces his fathers life to become a friend of Stokely Carmichael Martin Luther king, and member of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. To explore the plight of the south dwindling world black workingclass. Many of whom can trace ancestry back seven generations. In his poetic personal history where awakened to the crisis affecting the other forgotten men and women whom the media seldom acknowledges. These are his family members, neighbors and friends. He humanizes the struggles that shape their lives to gain access to healthcare as rural hospitals disappear to make ends meet, because the factories have shut down and moved overseas, to hold onto precious traditions as their towns erode. To forge a path forward without succumbing to despair. My vanishing country is also a love letter to fatherhood, to his father whose life lessons that shaped him and to his newborn twins who he hopes will embrace his name and honor his legacy. Bakari sellers made history in 2006 when just at 22 he defeated a 26 year incumbent, someone would been in office longer than he had been alive come to become the youngest member of South Carolina state legislature and the youngest africanamerican elected official in the nation. In 2014 he was democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in a state of South Carolina. He is a cnn political analyst answered in the South Carolina state legislature. Recently named the times magazine 40 under 40 list is also practicing attorney. Tonight he will be in conversation with Pete Buttigieg who served as twoterm mayor of south bend, indiana, and was democratic candidate for the president of the United States in 2020. I graduate of Harvard University and at oxford road scholar, buttigieg enlisted in the u. S. Navy reserve as, and became a lieutenant when he was deployed to afghanistan in 2014. In april 2019 he announced his candidacy for president and february 2020 he won the Iowa Caucuses becoming the first openly gay person to ever win a president ial primary or caucus. He authored the shortest way home in 2019. And now i am very proud to welcome Bakari Sellers and Pete Buttigieg. Everyone at how would please give them a round of applause. Thank thank you so much. P, you got me . Yes. Great to be with you. Thank you. As a young man from denmark, South Carolina, where we had three stoplights, i just want to say thank you to Left Bank Books for welcome me into your home. With your friends and your customers and your board in your family. Pete, weve known each other for very long time and it warms my spirit how well you did run for president. We all knew you were extremely capable and yet still you shocked even our greatest expectations, and we expect so much more from you now. I guess that is somewhat of a doubleedged sword but im just thankful for your friendship. Thanks for your love, your kid words and thankful that youre spending an hour with me here today. It means a great deal to me. Its a pleasure. It made me think about ups and downs when i first met you and things that come to pass even since then as the president ial campaign. It makes the conversations were having that much more timely so great to be reunited and great to see that your pandemic game is in the top, congratulations. I have my shirt on and my sleeves rolled up and a newly ghosted there you go. I feel like all our dress coach of the adjusted. Im to talk with you. I know were going to moderate q a later but before we jump into this, the substance of the book, im curious having written exactly one book and it was a more as well. Im just curious about your process and how you found it since you put a lot of personal as well as political observations on the page come out of the world. How has the reception been . For me, i was starting this process and they didnt want to write a memoir. I i was trying to write a political book. No one wanted to buy it. I got turned down by 2030 different publishers. I wrote sample chapters. I did everything i thought you could do to get a book opportunity. Finally tracy set me down from harpercollins, and they said tell me your story. I told them about the masker and worms coming from. Im from the poor role south i told about moving from the charleston massacre, and i just put my heart on paper. Im nervous, im anxious because as you know when you write your truth down, you put everything you have onto the sheet of paper. Im excited. Im really anxious and hope people take it and read it with a sense of understanding id write this book with the most part i wrote it over 45 months fourfive months. Because somebody applicable to call a friend has a book coming out at the end of this year by the name of barack obama. So my publisher said, whatever you do, you have to finish this book so we can get it out before then. I was really excited about it, i put everything i had into this. Congratulations. Its a terrific read and very timely. You mentioned just now two tragedies that really in many ways are the two pillars of the story, and the first, the orangeburg massacre, something you described in many ways the most important date of your life. It happened before you even born. I should say im embarrassed to admit this but i was not taught anything about the orangeburg massacre going up. I thought i knew the 60s. Certainly learned about what happened in kent state in the killing of student protesters there. It wasnt until much later that it learned about the massacre students hide and integrate a Bowling Alley on the campus of the Historical Black College South Carolina state university. As one of the many haunting and memorable experiences that i was blessed to have in my president ial campaign i had an opportunity to visit the site of the orangeburg massacre with your father who i imagine has walked that ground with so many educated as it did me, people, visitors about what it was like, what happened and what it meant. I wonder if you could share a little bit about, first of all, how you think we can do a better job as a country of understanding and even just acknowledging what happened . And then what it was like to grow in the shadow of this event that was so defining for your father and then they come so defining you even though it happens years before you were born. First of all let me say thank you for using a platform, being on betrayal speaking about my father and exploring a bit of history that not many people know about. My father said your friend called me, they will need come over to orangeburg or im going to walk around with them and talk to him about the masker, talk to him about 68. I said thats going to be really good event. It warmed my spirit. You didnt have to do that but you took that moment out to lift those voices up, lift those persons who have given so much in those young men who died. I him i am still more angry andi write about it, and even my father because i see the turmoil. I see the fact that his eyes dont pop like they used to from shedding so many jews. I see a shoulder so as upright as they once did in carrying the burdens of a generation. I know he was shot, i know he was imprisoned. I talk about the injustice that that was but i also talk about the trauma that extends from that to generations. Thats what i i want people to kind of pass the sense of understanding, that trauma, because my sister was born while my father was in prison. My father had a felon, you know, until the 1990s when he was pardoned. Imagine being a black man in the south and being a felon. So my family had undergone and gone through so much, that is not just one generation. Its more than one. And growing up in our household we all knew, there were two things. When is amazing growing up with a hero in your kitchen everyday. A blessing. Truly a blessed experience. Second, i grew up around so many people, the Stokely Carmichael, the julian bonds, the marion barrys, jesse jackson, so i look at my politics, ilife, culture, everything through the lens of the Civil Rights Movement. I was grateful, and my father taught me a lesson in which he said he would he did want us to think it was just about martin, malcolm and rosa but he also won the still about the other heroes who gave so much. So you grew up surrounded by these giants in the Civil Rights Movement. I think you talk in many ways about the sense of responsibility that comes with that. Even so it was an audacious thing to run for office at the age you did, something [inaudible] exactly. Im a big fan for people running [inaudible] but i think one of the really defining dynamics is this question are you doing things that are little bit out of step for your age. On one hand your family members described you as being kind of an old soul. On the other hand, because you are tall, right, you go to college. People have no idea your six feet until your mother wishing you a happy 17th birthday. You run for office, i think you are 20 or 21 and when youre 201 you get sworn in. When you run statewide as i did with less equal results, i got my head handed to me, in particular i wanted to run one other thing by you. I felt when i was running for mayor, the fact i was very young actually helped me. And really interesting and unexpected, it helped me with older voters of the most. Fairly similar dynamic we found when i was running for president. Many of the voters most excited about a young candidate precisely because of being young were the older folks. I did not find that same enthusiasm, intergenerational enthusiasm always existed among elected officials. So talk about just voters looked at you when you are so young but whats it like walking into a place as, i assume, as intimidating as the legislature, as a legislator taking a seat among people would been there for a very long time. You are a young man, a young black man. How did you think about how to negotiate your age at each of these steps . Thats a good question. You are channeling your inner chris cuomo here with that question. When i ran i have this, if not me, then hell . If not now then, then you know the questions very well. I had done everything really young. People are going to ask how young, why i was so young . I went to kindergarten for semester and after christmas they put me in first grade and the next year they put me in third grade. Then there was some question whether not i would skip ninthgrade. I made the personal choice not to do it. I had a friend for for a long e such is not to. So yeah, i went to high school is will come college at 16. Got my law degree by 23. One of the things i wanted to do, i had, one of the things one do was run for office. I didnt think you had to wait in line. Just like you, you had to wait in line for up to run for office. I didnt think i had to get approval to run for office. And talk about the fact i called my opponent at the time to inform him you i was going to n against him, and just let him know and have that courtesy. We didnt speak at all until two days he didnt call me after that i won. He didnt call me for a couple of days later. But when i walked into the capital, it was not only being young, and the cool part about eating young, im sure you got it, when you knock on doors you had this result you going to knock on every single door. I knocked on doors of Confederate Flags because we want to be people where they are. I had this firm belief that no matter white, black, democrat or republican that you wanted to have a Grocery Store in your community, that you didnt want your grandparents having to choose between whether or not theyre going to pay their utility bills or get the pharmaceutical drugs. We went through, i went through these steps, might i could literally change the lives of people. I wasnt yet jaded by reality. Im still not jaded by that reality. Walking inhouse there wasnt this i would see agitators son. I was walking into a state house where its the same state that put my family through so much trauma. I was there to help change that, put a new face on that, tear down the systems of injustice from within. I dont how successful i was at that but i tried my damnedest. So there was that of there was a sense of being young that everybody looked at me because i was 21, 2222. I was the youngest by a decade plus, served with the string at you in the first an open your mouth they want to see what you all about, who is in this young dude, this young black guy from denmark with the son of the civil rights hero. Pete, i dont think people really remember but when i was elected, every day i went outside when i i was having a rough day and took a deep breath. The Confederate Flag still flew proudly in front of our state capital. As you make an ebook is put up in 1961 1961 which also says something about [inaudible] i might people all the time thats not a flight from the civil war. That is a flag that was put up to the Civil Rights Movement and non nonresistance. All these emotional going to my might come all these emotions going to my head. Every single that such an amazing. Because had a chance of people and change lives. But it was being young, being black, being a democrat and being a young black democrat in South Carolina. Let me take it one level deeper. Especially for young candidates around the subject of ambition, the one thing appreciated about your book is to mention at the age of 17 once you start, your intuitive washington, he started think that Public Service and pictures open. You and and a friend are slicing and dicing data from the district. The reason it is on my mind, this question of ambition, i think its against American Political Culture although that. One thing i wrote in my book is you are not supposed reveal that it vividly occurred to you you ran for office till the day you make a nesson. You say, people came and told me i should run and addict think i should but eventually they were begun. For many people that is true but your expected to present your decision or you ambition to run that way whether thats the story or not. And im thinking about, im not even talking about potential running mate russian but i think that Stacey Abrams has been very transparent about the fact that she [inaudible] and i wonder about this, the expectation that is formed in our culture around whether youre supposed to admit what you have aspiration or ambition or not. When anybody whos anywhere near expected run certainly the president is an ambitious person. Im wondering how thats different for men than it is for women and the thing that had it is different from black leaders and it is for white. How would you reflect i think what stacy is going through is unlike anything that weve seen before because being a black females seeking a position of Vice President , you cant go by normal rules. You cant simply do the things that are going else has done throughout time. You have to position yourself and take advantage of your opportunity so im not for me, there were people look at me like, that i just lost my mind. What was i thinking about . How would a challenge the incumbent would not only been in the state house for 26 years but he was the chair of the council. Before he was chair of the county council he delivered the mail. Before you delivered mail he delivered the milk. He knew everyone. Then there were people in line to take his place. And so what was i doing, how did i have the audacity to step over them . But what warms my spirit is even when is running for office i remind people alltime i get elected in 2006. What year did you get you were an elected official long before i was. I was elected in 2006, and back then barack obama was just, and i dont mean, i dont want to sound condescending because of the 44. He was just someone would given an amazing speech in 2004 and was a United States senator. The person that we listened to in terms of young black elected officials was deval patrick. Deval patrick cant reach that plateau, had reached that mountaintop. So i recall, you know, having this really i guess people thought it to be somewhat unconscionable belief in self. But youre right, when i was knocking on doors by the people i wanted to serve them, i was giving lemonade. I was getting invited in, see if i i could take their daughter. There was a wide array speedy you never know when you knock on that door. You never know. I think that the ambition that i displayed, think the ambition that you display, the ambition that stacey displayed is refreshing because its authentic and because its transparent, and people are tired of the gamesmanship that individuals play. But i do think its a thin line between ambition and arrogance and i try to step on the line or straddle the line. My significant other like your significant other in check with our egos. Absolute right and its good to have that spark most definitely. Another thing you are very transparent about in the book in a way that is really striking is you know, not a lot frankly many politics are expected to speak but anxiety or fear, to speak about crying. You were talking with everything from the weight of history to the effect of seeing somebody your age, a classmate to die. I remember a similar experience, not somebody i knew well but it just shook me and change i understood the world. The experience, a harrowing experience and we were so thankful you in the book with good news, first your wife coming very near to losing a wife, convocations from childbirth and then also what your daughter went through. So first uninterested in why you decided to take that step and share that. And secondly, what, if anything, is the reaction to the way the book has been received maybe has struck you or shaped the way you think that either individually or as a matter of policy . We can shine a light on what it takes for all of us to confront the Mental Health challenges, whatever Life Experience shapes us. It shouldnt be so hesitant press to talk about. So the Mental Health aspect is something that was cathartic for me. Being able to talk about anxiety especially as a black man because many black men do not talk about issues of Mental Health. We think the only person we can talk about our issues with his our barber which apparently as you can see i havent had much therapy either. I wanted to break the stereotype. I want people to note here him, have have a beautiful family, i want cnn, im a lawyer, trying to live my life in in a way tht can be an example for others, but yeah, i suffer with anxiety. I suffer from fears feels like suffocating, very rational fears are dealing with. The chapter, anxiety of black men, because to me thats what it is. I use that fear to drive me, to make the most of every 24 hours i have, and you mentioned it, going through these issues with my wife almost dying in childbirth, my daughter sadie being diagnosed with a month old, you know, three days on the transplant waiting list. Everything of a she was really small. Her liver was unable to process and she had this really big belly and she was yellow. She was so sweet but you could see literally every single day your daughter dying in front of you. You talk about all of these traumas, what he really wanted people to know, my, may not be yours. I wanted to lay it out for people so they could see the perseverance. Although my trauma may not be yours i want you to know we can get through this together, especially during the time of coronavirus and uncertainty and the anxiousness that goes along with it. Or me it was really personal, and i also tell people that this book is really aspirational. I dont want people to think by any stretch im perfect because i mean failures. Its a way that i believe people can garner some understanding politically, you know, especially on the issue of mortality. It was an issue championed by elizabeth warren, mcbath, adams and others, black women are four times more likely to die during childbirth than the white counterpart. I just wanted to be able to shine a light on that. My wife was extremely strong and she passed the strength down to my daughter. Although last year, i dont wish that upon anybody to almost lose luger wife and almost leisured daughter over the same period of time, its like avoiding a car crash every day for an entire year. And you know how your heart feels at the moment. And so uniquely enough everyday recount all our joy. Even in quarantined it doesnt affect us. Like everyone is healthy. Its a good day. Weve been down that road, but it wanted to for everything out. I think perversely enough one of the things that donald trump has been characterized as doing anything like this authentic self, people no longer, i think its ascribing to cultural anti people now, thats the thing, and that is why i say the reception so good. Amy klobuchar was a good and people are enjoying this book because there is a value added to being your authentic self. One of the things i remember most about this campaign recently, im going through this authenticity note is, you and your husband on the front of time magazine. I utilized that image for me is, in recent political history, i do these weird rankings like i was say the second best speech by politician, is really good but yours, that picture was right below when barack obama in philadelphia when the white house together and asked brock obama does your hair feel like mine . He reached over and touched his hair. Theres a picture of you and your husband together on the front of time. Also was hopeful and aspirational and showed the true values of what this country could be, that picture barack and the fouryearold black kid. That level of authenticity, thats giving you all and pouring your heart to the world is what i try to do as well. You do me a great honor by putting that image in that company because i know the pictures are talking about, extraordinary. It was stirring to hear the way you described on the page. Thanks for that. I know we have some ideas coming in so i dont want to, i dont want to talk although speaking of rankings, just before i relinquish control to the moderator, there was one every website you are less than fully forthcoming. I would even say theres a bit about education in the book. You discussed people discuss whether or not youre good at basketball. The book does give an objective you whether you are, in fact, as good as you believe you are. You want to clear that up . Yes, i am an adult league allstar right now. I want you to believe that. Im actually in the text group with give my friends who are mentioned in the book corner reading it. No one really but it was close to me so my mom hasnt read it but didnt read before. My sister nor brother. I said this will be a weird thing, and they said [laughing] so no, im a decent basketball player. Im better in my head. The first question is do you only and people of the burning desire to meet people where they are . Is it a lack of fear . Lets both answer these. I would say this is this is a t is more prevalent in young people. Thank you for your question and thank you for coming. That means a lot. I do think its a trait a lot of young people have. We have the sense of invincibility. We have since we can change the world. I think generation z which is aa godawful name for a generation by the way. If youre out there, please, lets have meet i have find you a better name. It just sounds like the end of the world. Like a like a year ago we are cd about this generation being codified and now its the generation that is leading the charge on changing our gun laws throughout the country, and so its a fascinating generation. I only say that every change weve had from the Civil Rights Movement to the womens Rights Movement to the gayRights Movement have been led by young people and a lot of it has to do with the fact that we still believe in words like hope and love and truth and justice and peace, and we willing to meet people where they are. So that is my two cents on that very good question. Yeah, its a great question and again i picture some of doors were knocking on. Part of that is part of that is also the quality that sometimes its good not to know what you dont know and to have that sense of if not invincibility that sense of syncing your teeth into. Maybe its not unique to young people but it is so often young people step in to the arena. Youre right, the generation it pains me not to admit i dont along to the same generation of College Students today but you can see the energy. To me the thing that strikes me is the activism is driven not by idealism but by reality. Young people are sick of seeing the generation of young people facing school violence, young people who no longer your plan to be on this earth the more of your to deal with the consequences of climate and decisions that are being made right now about climate change. Its always been young people. Think back to the activists generation of the civil rights era, and after that really moving and hunting visit to the site of the orangeburg massacre ida had to spend time with students. We went to the Bowling Alley that they now have on campus and thankfully bowled a respectable few frames will reportedly we get a dose of inspiration and energy and intelligence and motivation that those young people have. The next question, besides voting what can citizens due to advance the narrative a Public Health and Health Disparities as we define our new normal . I think, first of all, i think we are giving a false choice many of our leaders now between whether or not we can err on the side of Public Health or err on the side of having a thriving economy. I think having a good Public Health strategy is actually good for our economy. I think some of the polling weve seen about reopening and such is of vital. One of the things i write about in my vanishing country and its something that pete begins to unpack, is that peeling with david, its very important, wh data is carrying the band off against racism and injustice we have in this country. I got to a very public spat with the United States Surgeon General after his comments about george floyd. Basically telling black folks to pull her pants up and stop drinking stop smoking when youre talking about Public Health come here to look at the facts that take my community for example. You live in a food desert we dont have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, the lack of medicaid expansion, rural hospitals or close down so you have black of access of all the care. Every time with infrastructure, its like a joke on jay leno. We know its not the truth. I say jay leno but go bare. Your generation again. Look it up, get. He was funny, he was hilarious. Living next to brownfields, implicit bias. Where to look at all of these things, thats what alabama has highest death rate in union. Thats why black folks in new york and detroit come in milwaukee, atlanta are dying at higher rates. I think having a good strategy that addresses a lot of these injustices is good for our economy they can help change our new normal. I do want to. 1 thing i think is important. The systemic issues of Racial Injustice that had been as reverend barber puts it both expose and exploited, right . Not only does it show the disparities but also these weaknesses, it disempowerment of the workers and the lack of access to health care. The fact people do 60s, helps the virus spread to give all races, working through these discriminatory patterns, its a weakness in our country that we cant go back to. But i also want to mention this goes back to a lot of unglamorous issue areas. One thing in my book, a lot of people, some people would respond to the love story which was my favorite part to write about. Notre dame. Some people are connected indiana. Theres this tiny fraction come one half of 1 in agreement who just love the discussion of wastewater system. A good example that mayors love and not a lot of other people. In your book you talk about she passionately worked on repairing the water in the city which may not be sexy but directly affected edlin. When were talking about Water Infrastructure there are also issues of racial justice, right . Being interested in water seemed like like a quirky, nerdy pursuit suitable only for people who are interested in engineering until things like flint, michigan, happen as you you describe the a lot of a particular rural black resident in places like South Carolina living with flint like conditions for years or for decades. Something has to happen to connect the dots between these very in interface issues of everyday life whether its its access to clean Safe Drinking Water or access to a Convenience Store and some kind of access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Thats aligned whether some of his marks have hypertension, diabetes as black families are, not because they chose to but because of these conditions. Then you can draw a direct lie to the fact that not only are we talk about more likely conditions that make them more like but also more likely to be lethal once they do. You discussed the closure of rural hospitals and what that means, but that might mean tragically for your own family if your wife had not been able to access the hospital during childbirth. All of these things connect together and it is systemic and its simply neither possible nor desirable to go back to where we were before. Thats how we came to this point. Thank you. Your dads generational difficulty getting a a job as n exfelon and former activist parallels a lot of st. Louis and rams were part of the ferguson uprising. How do we do a better job of creating career writers and activists like your dad today . So i think thats the challenge. It was the challenge then, its a challenge now. Activism is still something that is profoundly messy and still frowned upon because it shapes our cultural norms. Its the voice of the unheard. Its when that voice reaches that palpable sense that lets out in that fashion. With that level of active and still frowned upon in this country you can look at anyone from Colin Kaepernick on down, all my friends and black lives matter and the ferguson protest. What i can also say is that activism, that being part of something larger than yourself, when history is written, when we look back at your activism, although it wasnt the few that decided to give up of themselves and stand on the front lines in that quest for freedom, in that quest for equality and justice will always be remembered kindly. In the meantime, in order to be an activist you a certain skill set. You need to make sure you hone d that skill set and understand what it is. If youre an activist nine times out of ten you are a decent and a decent organizer. You can utilize those skill sets of organizing skill sets of communicating to propel you into whatever career choice you may have. I tell a story not many people know about that Samuel Jackson in the book. Samuel jackson was a true activist, he got suspended from Morehouse College a year for holding the board of trustees hostage, Martin Luther king senior. As you see that trajectory, realizing that activism, go to places that accept your desire to be part of change. A lot of that means there are a lot of college campuses, a lot of the router in that culture of activism. So if youre young person whos on the front lines, go to someplace that can foster those skill sets and go to a place that can propel you to be in line with other activist. Youll be surprised how many people are sitting in c suites right now who are set in and protested back in the days. I did want to mention this transition into legitimacy that activist sometimes far too long after the time, is something thats happened even recent memory. A powerful thing you mention is you just mentioned it in passing but its so striking. Ill just read it. You talked about dr. King. You say people are told him up as cotton candy. They manage to strip him of his revolutionary identity. I will always view Martin Luther king, jr. Use as a militant negro blood of 37 Approval Rating and he was taken from us because of hate. Now that our holidays, there are statues. Theres boulevards, right . I think youre in south bend one of the things we did was we put up a statue of the moment when the legendary present at university of notre dame and drs photograph at Soldier Field when father ted was participating in this event. Notre dame is very proud of that now, but that was not the most popular decision that emit at the time. He had to answer for that. The very things that are now kind of sanctified were incredibly politically controversial and dangerous, and so i suppose we could look on the bright side in view that there is a pathway toward seeing what is radical in one moment but also a warning sign that moral clarity does need to be accepted at the time. Let me chime in real quickly. Dr. King at his death, he didnt have he didnt do a gallup approval. The last thing he did was in 66, and what they realize was that the Approval Rating hovered around low 30. To juxtapose that against the fact that this president of penn state stays between 40 to 48 , so his approval Donald Trumps Approval Rating is consistently stronger than Martin Luther king, jr. s just as a pin point the irony of how history will look kindly on those who stand up for justice no matter the consequences. My name is live. I live in the midwest in st. Louis, missouri, and i was wondering for mayor pete, do you have any advice on how teens in the midwest can advocate for themselves . Especially in regards to Lgbtq Community. Absolutely. First of all you are doing it i speaking to the admissions and being right up front about it. Look, i think sometimes in this country there still a struggle around how different it is depending where you are to be out or questioning or anything thats not mainstream come any part of lgt pq come in today means one thing in one geography and another thing and another. The struggle for quality do not end when Marriage Equality came to this country in 2013. The first thing i would say is representation. Being ready to be out and to step forward, whether its running for Political Office or just in school or in a community role. Its amazing how much changes when theres just that first person like you that you see someone in a position of responsibility or visibility. When i was in high school i knew exactly zero out students. In fact, it were not its not like i i was the only gay kid there. It was just that nobody, everybody is looking to the right and looking to the left. I wonder how that would have changed my awareness and my ability to go on that journey coming to terms with who i was, let alone having candidates in office. Let others know that they can see themselves. So yes, its a matter of activism. Yes, its a matter of policy but sometimes its also just a matter of presence. Letting somebody see that you know who you are, you never know who thats going to wont even realize watching and taking a cue from you. I think thats going to matter as much as very real and very important work we have to do on everything from confronting the epidemic of violence against black trance and women to deal with Health Issues and Health Equity issues that are affecting so many lg dbq command in a particular those at the intersection of different patterns of gender identity and sexuality, race. Let me ask you a question real quick, pete. I want to ask a question. I want to know about the burden, that might not be the right word but there were such pride in the Lgbtq Community when you ran and when you want and change one. Did you feel a sense of pressure . Did you feel a burden, a sense of responsibility to go out every single dandy representative of the community that had been oppressed throughout the south, especially where your campaigning, throughout certain parts of the midwest . It still a very stagnant political thought, lack of progressive ideals and ideology. Did you feel a sense of pressure and responsibility having to represent i mean for the first time on the main stage the Lgbtq Community and stand up strong every single day you went outside speaking for this community . Theres no question that you feel that and you are aware of that responsibility, and your humbled by. First of all, knowing that the such diversity within the Lgbtq Community and try to find a way to make sure that people whose expense might be very different from i i can still see themsels reflected in what we were doing. Balancing that with the fact i was running i wasnt running to be president of only gay americans but of the United States. The finding ways to be very clear about it, same time not allowing [inaudible] people outside of the Community Want to put you in a certain box. Sometimes people inside it. Sometimes grow up on a certain definition of a right or wrong way to be, are also looking at you but the thing that was most powerful to me was when somebody would let me know the fact of our campaign made it easier for them to have a conversation with her parents about coming out or a conversation with a friend or a loved one. Sometimes it was not unusual when i was traveling for somebody to come up to me, especially people from the older generation who never dream is it even possible, and just what i contact not being up to speak, come up, shake my hand and just be able to have an entire conversation but what this all meant for them. And i knew that created a responsibility to try every step of the way to reflect well on others in my community, whether or not their politics lined up perfectly with my or not, that i had that responsibility and tried to wear it well. You wore it with great dignity and respect and thats a question i always wanted to ask because in my discussions with 44 often, it was a question of blackness and how are we supposed be black . Its not a question of are you going to be president of black america . He would articulate the same thing, im not running for president of black america, i am running for president of the United States. We are going to take another question, another video questio question. My question to bakari and pete is how can people have Uncomfortable Conversations about race in privilege . And with these conversations how can people acknowledge the humanity of others without letting hate and anger get in the way . That was a powerful question. You know, i think when black folks, people of color read this book, my vanishing country they are going to get a surprise. When i want white folks to read to get a sense of understanding. I think understanding of other struggles, understanding where people come from allows for us to very difficult conversation about the issues of race that have this conversation with a sense of compassion, with a sense of empathy and also giving people the benefit of their humanity. My greatest fear is raving black children in this country, there is a large segment of the population that do not give him the of their humanity, not only does this book come out during a pandemic were talked about the coronavirus and racial disparity, but also talk about Ahmaud Arbery and rihanna to it. Ahmaud arbery got murdered and a good oldfashioned south georgia fatherson lynching because they saw ms. Bing less than human. And so whether or not you talk about michael brown, tamir rice, alton sterling, keith lamont scott, the list goes on and on, and eight others were killed in the charleston masker is a question about seeing other people cemented. I wrote this book because i wanted to spark conversations and hopefully understanding, you know, i was with td jakes regarding this week and he would say you can teach people arithmetic and you can teach people science and you can teach people about ancient egypt and rome, but you cant teach people blackness. So this is an amazing opportunity to learn and understand. That way we are prepared to have the difficult conversation with the necessary what a great answer. All i can add to that is the only way to have these conversations is out loud and it will be uncomfortable because the search for understanding, especially when it involves a lot of stumble and trying to understand how to see through someone elses eyes that can only be no through experience. I think thats why stories are so powerful. Thats why your story is so powerful. Literature and film are so powerful because they allow us to see or appear it into a little bit of what we dont know based on what we do. I dont know what its like to walk into a place like South Carolina state legislature as a young black democrat for the first day, but you describe what its like, and somebody who knows what its like to walk into a room and be uneasy, you get that little connection, everyone knows what its like to be a human being, and when you read about what its like to go through the experience your family went through medically. My experience couldnt be more different than that women in childbirth. Ill never understand that but i can imagine what its like to be afraid. I know what its like to encounter something that is outside of your control, so we take those pieces of what we might understand just because we are people, and connect this up to things we will never quite understand the eyes of those who lived in and if we have that listening ear and people have the courage to share their stories, sometimes grab you by the collar and shake you a little bit as many people did, metaphorically speaking of course, when i was a candidate and shake my understanding of what i knew and what i didnt through the lens of their experience, thats the only way i think we can get to where we can because one day well all have in common with all know what its like to be a person. Also we can build into things we dont what i think your question is a question of our time. Weve got to find the ways to do this before its too late. I think the future of the american project depends on it. In particular, the experience you described anchored in this historical masker, the orangeburg massacre, only echoes by what happened at mother emanuel, it reminds us theres every reason to doubt the future of the american project and every reason to fight for it in the name of that kind of justice. I mean, thats my challenge and thats what i tell people in my vanishing country. I love this country so much, i love the promise that it is supposed to put on display for all of its children, and im going to push to ensure that everyone, the matter who they love, a matter with you look like, have access to the american dream. Because i dont want this country to banish any longer. You cant help but to believe in this country and the Political Climate we are in now a lot of these ideals are fleeting. Its our job to continue to challenge ourselves, what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature and thats the only way that we will be able to come together, to answer the question directly. I hope we can come together with understanding, compassion, empathy and humanity and thats the only way be can actually feel which is what our country needs. I think we have time for one more question. There are so many questions the audience is asking. Im going to ask the topic between bakari, what is yor proudest accomplishment in serving in the state legislature . Outside of the state legislation was endorsing barack obama. Thank god i chose the right person. Inside the state legislature, i built a library for a very poor Rural Community and that raise a beacon of hope and so thats what i cannot has been my biggest accomplishment. Not a sexy thing but its a place where people can go and read, can get wifi internet, unity programs, et cetera, into something i was very proud to accomplish. I want to thank both of you for being here. Left bank books thank you so much. You are very inspiring to me personally into a lot of our viewers, so thank you both so much for being here tonight. Before we close, thank you, peak, so very much for joining me on this journey, and if you have an opportunity to visit Left Bank Books please do. Pete has a much better book than both myself and please give it a chance as well. I want to give him a shot at. Thanks for that. Thanks for the kind words. Great to be with Left Bank Books. Congratulations again on a great read and a great story. You are watching tv on cspan2 on this Independence Day Holiday Weekend, television for serious readers. Here are some programs to watch out for. Find a complete Holiday Weekend schedule online at booktv. Org or check your program guide. As Christian Christians were not only called to be citizens of god yet to become, were called to be citizens on earth, whatever society or nation we happen to be aar