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National Civil Rights Museum Forum, April 4, 2014 You can also hear the entire forum as it was recorded, unedited and without interruption, including the invocation by Rabbi Micah Greenstein of Temple Israel in Memphis, performances by the Elite Chamber Singers, and a question-and-answer session with audience members.
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Friday, April 11 – Friday, April 18: National Civil Rights Museum Forum On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by a shot from a high-powered rifle while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. The Lorraine is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum, which recently completed a $28 million renovation. Last week, on the 46th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, a group of renowned civil rights lawyers, scholars and activists gathered to celebrate the museum’s reopening with a forum on the signing 50 years ago of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This week, we broadcast excerpts from three panels moderated by Tavis.
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Clay Risen – “The Bill of the Century” This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The groundbreaking bill gave the federal government greater power to strike down segregation, enforce fair hiring practices, and address bias in law enforcement and the courts. While its passage has been credited to the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the battle for the Civil Rights Act was much bigger than those two men. Clay Risen, a staff editor for the op-ed section of “The New York Times”, explores the dynamics of the bill’s passage in his new book, “The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights…
Josh Ruxin – “A Thousand Hills to Heaven” It’s been 20 years since Rwanda was the scene of gruesome genocidal violence. As many as a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were literally hacked to pieces by roving death squads during the spring of 1994. Perhaps there’s no better symbol of the nation’s recovery than a village cluster called Mayange and a restaurant called Heaven. Columbia University Professor Josh Ruxin has had a firsthand view of Rwanda’s recovery as director of Health Builders, which helps operate rural health centers. He shares his experiences in a new memoir, “A Thousand Hills to Heaven: Love, Hope, and a Restaurant in Rwanda”….
Scott Kurashige – Diversity Gap at Public Universities A fraternity party last fall at the University of Michigan described as “World Star Hip Hop Presents: Hood Ratchet Thursday” promised twerking, rappers, gangsters, thugs, and basketball players. African American students were incensed. The incident brought to light an underlying issue that has plagued the university for years. In 1996, Michigan voters passed a ballot initiative that banned race-based admission at state schools. Since then, minority enrollment at the University of Michigan has steadily declined. Scott Kurashige, Michigan professor of American culture, history, and Afro-American and African studies, argues in a recent commentary that, in their lack of diversity, schools like Michigan are failing to uphold their mission as public…
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Daniel Beaty – “Transforming Pain to Power” Daniel Beaty was brought up in a world of pain. The defining features of life in his Dayton, OH home were incarceration and drug addiction. But after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Beaty dared to dream himself—and came to realize that the pain he suffered was an avenue, not an obstacle, to his dreams. Today, he is an award-winning actor, writer, singer, and motivational speaker, and he shares his story of how he harnessed the power of pain in a new motivational memoir, “Transforming Pain to Power: Unlock Your Unlimited…
Tim Padgett – “What My Talks With Hugo Taught Me About Chavismo in Venezuela” The oil-rich nation of Venezuela has been embroiled since mid-February in its worst turmoil in a decade, as angry citizens have taken to the streets to protest poor economic conditions. The chaos began nearly a year after former president Hugo Chavez died of cancer. Tim Padgett, Americas editor for WLRN in Miami, covered Chavez for more than 20 years. In his recent piece, “What My Talks With Hugo Taught Me About Chavismo in Venezuela”, Padgett reflects on his years covering the charismatic…
Emily Parker – “Now I Know Who My Comrades Are” In 2011, Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo to protest that country’s authoritarian government. It took just 18 days for Hosni Mubarak’s regime to fall, once ordinary Egyptians were mobilized, largely by connecting online and through social media. Emily Parker, a former State Department policy adviser, looks at how the Internet is transforming lives of regular citizens living in authoritarian regimes in her new book, “Now I Know Who My Comrades Are: Voices from the Internet…
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Christopher Petrella – “The Color of Corporate Corrections” As the prison population in the United States has skyrocketed over the last 30 years, cash-strapped states have turned to the private sector to resolve prison overcrowding. Privately-operated prisons claim that they run more efficiently and save more money than governmental facilities. How can they make such claims? The answer may lie in a recent study, which found that private prisons incarcerate African Americans and Latinos at even higher rates than government-run prisons. Christopher Petrella, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted the study and joins us to discuss its…
Everett Glenn and George Johnson – Racial Inequities in College Sports March Madness begins this weekend with the selection of the teams that will participate in the NCAA basketball tournament. Getting into the tournament is a big deal for the schools—it’s a great source of pride, prestige, and, of course, money. But what will the young athletes, particularly the young athletes of color who will be on the court, get out of it? Everett Glenn, president of the National Sports Authority, and our commentator George Johnson discuss the role parents, students, and universities should play in the success of young athletes of…
“Reinventing the War on Poverty” Tavis traveled to Washington to participate in “Reinventing the War on Poverty”, a daylong event hosted by “The Atlantic” magazine in cooperation with the Tavis Smiley Foundation, as part of our initiative, ENDING POVERTY: America’s Silent Spaces, a $3 million, four-year national effort to examine barriers and identify solutions to alleviate poverty in the United States. In an excerpt from Tavis’ presentation, he outlines what the country needs to do to ensure that millions of Americans have the tools to emerge from living in or near…
Marwan Muasher – “The Second Arab Awakening” Now in its fourth year, the Arab Spring movement that began in late 2010 has yet to drive out autocratic regimes and usher in democratic ones—in fact, some of those brutal autocrats have tightened their grip. Marwan Muasher, the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan, argues in his book, “The Second Arab Awakening: And the Battle for Pluralism”, that democracy can still flourish in the Middle East—but not without some major political and cultural…
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Lisa Bloom – “Suspicion Nation” On February 26, 2012, an unarmed Black teenager was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in central Florida. Over the following year, the nation was transfixed by the details and by standoffs between those who argued that George Zimmerman was within his rights to kill Trayvon Martin, and those who said Trayvon was the victim of an overzealous racist vigilante. Now, two years later, the question remains: why is Zimmerman walking free? In a new book, “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It”, civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom blames a botched prosecution and pervasive racial bias in the American justice system.
Shyima Hall – “Hidden Girl” At 8 years old, Shyima Hall was sold into slavery by her desperately poor Egyptian family to repay a debt. After several years of bondage in Egypt, her wealthy captors moved to the United States and smuggled her into the country with them. As a domestic slave in a gated community in Southern California, she was forced to work day and night before being rescued after an anonymous tip to law enforcement in 2002. In the heartbreaking memoir, “Hidden Girl”, Hall recounts her experience as a domestic slave and her work to help other victims of human trafficking.
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Peniel E. Joseph – “Stokely: A Life”
Stokely Carmichael made history one humid night in 1966 when he stepped onto a Mississippi stage and called for “Black Power.” Neither his life nor the civil rights movement would be the same after that speech. Peniel E. Joseph, a history professor at Tufts University, offers a revealing portrait of the controversial and charismatic activist in his new biography, “Stokely: A Life.”
Thomas Brothers – “Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism”
In 1922, a 21-year-old trumpeter from New Orleans named Louis Armstrong boarded a train to Chicago, where he hoped to find his big break in the music business. Over the next decade, he made his mark, not by finding his big break in music, but by, in effect, breaking music. Armstrong’s talent and virtuosity broke all the established rules of the industry. Thomas Brothers, a music professor at Duke University, describes Armstrong’s work and influence, during what was perhaps the most important decade in jazz, in a new book, “Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism”.
George Johnson – Sports Drill
In his 3-minute sports drill, George Johnson offers his take on an NFL committee’s proposal to implement a 15-yard penalty against players who use racial and homophobic slurs on the field.
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Garance Franke-Ruta – “My Brother’s Keeper”
During his State of the Union speech, President Obama announced his new initiative pairing foundations and corporations with young men of color in an effort to help them reach their full potential. This week, the president unveiled that initiative, called “My Brother’s Keeper”, at an event held at the White House. Garance Franke-Ruta, the Washington editor for Yahoo! News, joins us to discuss the new initiative.
A Sorry Moment in the History of American Media
A recent report from the advocacy group, Free Press, found that there are no Black-owned and operated full-power television stations in the U.S. today. Eight years ago, there were 18—and while that number represented just 1.3 percent of all U.S. TV stations, it was, at least, a presence. Lisburn Joseph Torres, senior external affairs director for Free Press, joins us to explain why Black-owned stations have disappeared.
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Dr. Freeman Hrabowski: Alabama native and current university president recalls how he became a child leader in the movement. Danny Glover: Award-winning actor connects his own emergence as an activist to bearing witness to the movement. Eleanor Holmes Norton: The DC congresswoman was part of the movement’s most turbulent days as a young law student in Mississippi.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.: Rainbow/Push Coalition founder recalls the events that led him to take a pivotal role in the movement. Dr. Raye Richardson: Owner of the nation’s oldest surviving Black bookstore recalls her struggles against segregation. Yuri Kochiyama: Activist remembers the fear and excitement she experienced when meeting Malcolm X. Rep. John Lewis: Civil rights hero remembers the fight he helped wage for the Voting Rights Act and the struggle’s renewed significance…
Dorothy Tillman: Former student organizer recalls the climate that led her to join the movement. Robert Graetz: One of the few white Christian ministers tied to the movement recalls his friendship with Rosa Parks. Harry Belafonte: Legendary actor and close confidante to Dr. King recalls his friend’s sense of humor amid the turmoil. Andrew Young: Former ambassador and King associate recalls meeting with President Johnson in the days before the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas: As youngsters, they helped integrate Little Rock’s Central High School as part of the famous “Little Rock Nine”. Dick Gregory: Legendary comedian says the courage of the men and women who were active in the movement is no laughing…
In his State of the Union speech, President Obama announced a White House initiative, called “My Brother’s Keeper”, to pair foundations and corporations with young men of color to help them reach their full potential. Kenneth Braswell, executive director of Fathers Incorporated, a nonprofit agency that works to develop support and services for fathers, shares his thoughts on the initiative and what the president needs to do to ensure its success. Read Kenneth Braswell’s State of the Union report…
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Twenty percent of America’s prison population is elderly. And in the next decade, nearly 100,000 inmates will die alone in their cells. One maximum security prison created a hospice program to care for dying inmates. The documentary, “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”, follows one inmate as he approaches his final days. The film’s director, Edgar Barens, joins us to discuss his Oscar-nominated short film.
Last month, a small delegation of African American artists traveled through Israel and Palestine to get a firsthand look at the daily lives of Palestinians. What they saw shocked and angered them, and their eyewitness accounts are sure to spark debate here as heated as any confrontation in the Middle East. Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, led the delegation and shares his perspective on the region. On the Ugly Side of the Wall By Bill Fletcher, Jr. “It felt like being in a huge prison.” That was how I responded to questions I was asked after leading a delegation of African Americans on a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories this past January. Yes, there are other ways of describing the experience. The land is beautiful; the people are generous; and with every glance, one sees reminders of a history dating back thousands of…
Isabel Allende started her career as a prominent journalist in her native Chile. She became a political refugee after her cousin, Chilean president Salvador Allende, was overthrown and killed in a coup in 1973. As an exile in Venezuela, she reinvented herself into a human rights activist and author. More than 30 years later, she’s internationally renowned for her work. She joins us to discuss her latest book, “Ripper”.
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