there is an incredible amount of potential being wasted in harlem. he is reading a man child in the promised land which is a story of a guy who grew up in harlem. it's the stories of the streets written by a black man about black people. >> what you think the guys trying to tell you here? what he think the authors trying to do? >> well, he read what happened in this life. i guess that's what i like them. >> he has the same troubles customer. >> yes. >> a lot of the songs are familiar? >> yes. >> which ones? >> which are the ones the most familiar to you? [inaudible] a lot of that was going on here. thought it was an air raid, so he went in his mother found him hidden. >> you remember this really well. you remember everything you ever read. you never did read a book like this before customer. >> no not like this. >> what you think is the big difference? >> because he is a negro i guess. >> i will give you a list of the more books you can read with the same kind of story. >> is that your story? >> yes. [laughter] >> it is a never ending story pretty mu

he wants to write an autobiographical novel about his experiences growing up in harlem buddies having a hard time doing that any things what he needs is to leave united states in order to reflect on united states so he goes to paris and begins work as a literary critic reviewing the work of others and then writing his own essays and short stories and eventually his first novel. what alden tries to do in this novel is to write a novel that doesn't fall into the trap of being what is called protest fiction for protest fiction for baldwin is the kind of writing of the ideological preoccupation of the other assuming the humanity of the characters so baldwin writes a novel that captures the depth of the characters life. he writes a very powerful novel go tell it on a mountain in a few years he finishes his second novel giovanni's room in 1956. he goes back to his publisher and it says i have another novel for you cut off a very famous publisher. he says jimmy you are promising young rider why are you giving me and all white novel? giovanni's room for those of you have not read it as a nove

he talks about growing up in harlem. he talked about particularly onset of adolescents in harlem and a treacherous it is because adolescence, we begin to map out the paths allies will take. he sees nothing but danger really ahead of him, and the lure of the church is kind of an escape route, via lure of the avenue, all these things will in some way compound the dangers of living in harlem, and the sum total would be people's lives that are stilted in some way by race. what he does in the course of telling this long autobiography process is contextualized elijah mohammed. for people who could not understand the militancy, the radicalism, the content for white people that the nation of islam embodied, you need the preface of a baldwin essay. he goes on to say islamic people feel this way, but he was explaining how he comes to the question at how elijah mohammed is almost a logical project of the world that he had navigated. >> interestingly, one of the baldwin pieces and as many great pieces in this anthology is henry loui

he talks about growing up in harlem and he talked about particularly the onset of reticence in harlem and how treacherous it is because we begin to map out the paths that our lives will take. and he sees nothing but danger, really ahead of him. and the allure of the church is an escape route, it gives that avenue. there are all of these things that will in some way compound the dangers of living in harlem. and the sum total will be people's lives that are stilted in some way by race . and what he does in the course of telling this long autobiographical premise is contextualized elijah mohammed. for people who could not understand the militancy, the radicalism, the contempt for white peoplethat the nation of islam embodied . you need the preface of a baldwin essay. he goes out and says islamic people feel this way but he's stating how he comes to the question and how elijah mohammed is almost a logical project that he had navigated . >> one of the many pieces in this anthology is gates profile of louis farrakhan. it's writtenaround the time of the million man march . how do you see far

baldwin was born in august 1924 at harlem, the oldest of nine children, born to -- his mother married a man named david baldwin, the only father that james ever knew. baldwin describes his life as one marked by domination. he said at the experience of growing up in harlem in those days in the 20s and 30s, he felt dominated by all sorts of divisional people trying to limit opportunities. he describes what he calls a catalog of disaster. policeman, taxi drivers, waiters, landlady, the landlord, insurance companies, millions of details of everyday which spelled out to me i was a worthless human being. baldwin described ways in which he felt oppressed and dominated by forces that did not have human face. the merciless cruel structures of power that limited his freedom and opportunities as a young man. he watched the system of domination consumed his father. david baldwin was one of the most sad human beings he ever witnessed great he said david baldwin, father of nine children, he can never remember a single time when any of david baldwin nine children were happy to see him come home. as

a glorious introduction to the harlem renaissance and women poets. a spirited and empowering dialogue between her poetic foremothers. intertwiningng the emotion and experiences of black women past and present. the judges singled out its masterful use of the poetic form as a vibrant illustration by 19 contemporary black women. your mama illustrated by kathryn this joyful spin on your mama jokes featuring rhymes fluently and incorporatingin spanish wors alongside energetic expensive illustrations. the judges were thoroughly enchanted by this celebration of motherhood and culture. all 13, the incredible cave rescue of the boys soccer team. this work of nonfiction is written with the suspense and pacing of a thrilling adventure novel. all 13 brings to life each of the players enemies true survival stories that made global headlines in 2018. while centering thai culture. the judges were impressed by the authors meticulous research. supported by sidebars and eye-catching colors. on spiegel. the toll so race massacre by carol weatherford. illustrated by flo

it has the detriment -- >> guest: tom grew up in harlem but harlem was not the pilot -- with gunfire -- wasn't -- people don't understand that. harlem was not what it became later, and so tom might've grown up in harlem but it was a very different place back then. >> host: also is it fair to say and feel totally free to say it's not fair to say, but i think that most americans today, black and white, have a picture of black life prior to the '60s as other servitude humiliation, non-achievement, you know, which is such a distorted picture. obviously it was evil of jim crow, we all understand that but jesse owens was an american hero in 1932 or 36, i don't remember remember which olympics and was in berlin, when to hitler's great chagrin was a black writer will be all of his arian runners. people don't know that though, do they? >> guest: they don't, and thomas spent quite a bit of time writing about this time of black history that's often overlooked, what was going on between the end of slavery through reconstruction through the jim crow era and before the modern-day civil rights move

legacy of the harlem renaissance by nikki grimes and multiple illustrators. a glorious introduction to the renaissance and women poets legacy is a spirited and empowering dialogue between grimes and her poetic grandmothers intertwining the emotions and experiences of black women past and present. the judges singled out its masterful use of the poetic form as well as the vibrant eclectic illustrations by 19 contemporary black women artists. ♪ ♪ your mama illustrated by jacqueline. this joyful spin on your mama jokes features snappily rhythmic rhymes of fluidly incorporating words alongside energetic, expressive illustrations with the tattoo motif. the judges were thoroughly enchanted with motherhood and then latin x cultures. the incredible cave rescue of the soccer team by christina. this work of middle grade nonfictionri is written the pacing of a thrilling adventure novel. all 13 brings to life each of the players from this true survival story in 2018. sensitively censuring thai culture. the judges were impressed by the authors meticulous research suppo

and the writers who got their start during the harlem renaissance period and those who are best known to us now tend to be the male writers to new york. so i t feel that we need to widen the discussion more so i would like to read a poem because she is a local. go ahead. >> so she was one of the harlem renaissance era writers and published under her maiden name. i pledge allegiance to the flag. they dragged him nakedeo through the muddy streets of feebleminded black boys and the charge and upon the aged woman. of the unitedon states of america. for 1 mile they dragged him like a a sack of meal with a rope around his neck apply the ear dangling by the patriotic and a boy is 17. and to the republic for which it standss and then they hanged his body to a tree. with a county judge pleading for the battered human flesh were stifled by the raucous howls of men and boys and women brought out to see the blooded he spectacle of murder in 33. 3000 strong they were. one nation indivisible to make the tail completely built a fire. what matters the stuff they burned was flesh and bone and hair and

[laughter] it has the detriment -- >> growing up in harlem but harlem was not best violent place with gunfire, a lot of people don't understand harlem was not what it became later so it was a very different place backman. >> is it fair to say, feel free to say it's not fair to say but i think that most american today, black-and-white have a picture of black life prior to the 60s as utter servitude humiliation, non- achievement which is a distorted picture, obviously there was the evil of jim crow, we understand that but jesse owens was an american hero in 1932 or 36, i don't remember which olympics it was, hitler's great chagrin, it was a black runner who be all the other runners. people don't know that though, do that? >> they don't and i spent quite a bit of time writing about this. in black history, what was going on between the end of slavery and reconstruction and the jim crow era. before the model day civil rights movement, in charge of the progress being made and it was markable progress. you saw gaps and income gaps closing. the poverty rate for example in america so by 40 per

a lot of their writers got their start during the harlem renaissance. , a lot of the writers who are best known to us now tend to be male writers who moved to new york. so many writers of the movement were here in d.c. so people like georgette douglas johnson who i adore, i feel we need to widen the discussion more. if there is time, i'd love to read a poem by esther shaw -- >> go-ahead. >> okay, do it now? okay. after one of the harlem renaissance siders, she published under her maiden name and this poem is called flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag, they dragged him naked through the muddy streets of people find it black boy and the assault upon an asian woman of the united states of america, 1 mile like a sack, a rope around his neck, buddy here left dangling by the patriotic hand of nordic, of boy of 17. to the republic for which it stands, then they hanged his body to a tree below the window of a county judge, battered human flesh stifled by the howells of men and d boys and women brought out to see the blood a spectacle of murder, 3000 strong, they were. one nation indivisibl

so it must be a different harlem. and then from harlan station that is not named after him. >> and then to be much more conservative than the american people. so how should we read history? so when you look back, what does it tell you the story we are living in right now? >> it's the supreme court to allow itself with the role of the people and then i realized it could be the opposite. but then inn the economic cases we could change the country starting in the early 18 nineties because there is a p&l in 1893. >> . >> and then it was the same. and then the income tax only applied to those over a certain income. it is always seen by the rich and much higher levels. and yet the supreme court essentially because of class bias found a pretext even the most conservative justices today would not endorse or accept that is not the purpose of the supreme court. butt for one thing and then to be against those protections for african-americans but to invalidated. also i think that but the court could have went the otherav way. bu

i think a lot of the writers who better start during amino hall the harlem renaissance. and a lot of the writers who are best known to us now tend to be the male writers who moved to new york. and so many of the really top female writers of the movement were here in dc. so i think of like georgette johnson whose work i adore. so i feel like we need to widen the discussion more. and if there in time to time that would actually look read a poem by shoko. should i do now okay. so one of these harlem press writers and she published an effort committed name cheap published wonderful. this poem - salute. i pledge allegiance to the flag, they dragged him naked the muddy streets of people minded black folks in the charged assault upon an asian woman. in the united states of america. 1 mile they dragged him like a stack and a rope around his neck and ability left dangling by the patriotic cans. [inaudible]. boy of 17. into the republic for which it stands, and then they hanged his body to injury. blew the window of a county judge that human flesh they were stifled by the dish tow

it has a the detriment. >> harlem wasn't this violent neighborhood. it wasn't that people don't understand that how it wasn't what it became later. he might have grown up in harlem, but it was a very different place than. >> also is it fair to say, and feel totally free to say it's not fair to say, but i think that most americans today, black and white, have a picture of black life prior to the 60s as other servitude humiliation non-achievement which is such a distorted picture. obviously there was the evil of jim crow. we all understand that. but jesse owens who was a hero in 1932 or 36 i don't remember which olympics it was in berlin where to hitler's great chagrin it was a black runner that a beat all of the other runners. people don't know that though, do they. >> they don't. thomas spent quite a bit of time writing about this period that is often overlooked. they chartered the progress that was being made and it was remarkable progress. we saw the gaps closing, income gaps closing. the poverty rate, for example, in america fell by 40 percentage p

[laughter] >> but harlem was not violent with gunfire. people don't understand that. what it[l became later so he grew up in harlem that it was a very different place back then. host: is it fair to say and tell me if it is not, but i think most americans today, black and white have a picture of black life prior to the sixties as other servitude humiliation, non- achievement, which is such a distorted picture we all understand jim crow but jesse owens was an american hero in 1932 or 36 whichever olympics it was in berlin to hitler's great chagrin of black runner be all of his aryan runners but people don't know that. >> they don't. and thomas spent quite a bit of time writing about this time in history what was going on between the end of slavery through the jim crow era and before the modern-day seller rights movement and charted the progress that's being made you saw income gaps closing , the poverty rates in america were black fell by 40 percentage points that is before the civil rights act or the voting rights act black entering the skills profession social workers

it has the detriment. >> harlem wasn't this violent neighborhood with gunfire. it wasn't people don't understand that how it was not what it became leader and so tom might have grown up in harlem, but it was a different place back then. >> also, is it fair to say, and feel totally free to say that it's not fair to say, but i think that most americans today, black-and-white, have a picture of black life prior to the 60s as others servitude humiliation, non-achievement which is such a distorted picture. there was the evil of jim crow. we all understand that but jesse owens was a hero in 32 or 36 went to hitler's great chagrin about this period in black history that is often overlooked about what was going on between the end of slavery through reconstruction and the jim crow era and before the modern-day civil rights movement, and he's chartered the progress that's been made and it is remarkable progress. you saw gaps closing, income gaps closing. the poverty rate, for example, fell by 40 percentage points between 1940 and 1960. that is before a civil rights act, b

[laughter] it has the detrimentnt -- >> tom grew up in harlem for harlem was not best violent neighborhood with gunfire, it wasn't cash people don't understand that often what it became later so he might have grown up in harlem is a different place back. >> is it fair to say, feel totally free to say it's not fair to say but i think most americans today, black and white have a picture of black life prior to the 60s as our servitude humiliation, not achievement which is a distorted picture, obviously there was the evil of jim crow, we all understand that. jesse owens was an american hero in 1932 or 36, i don't remember which olympics it was, went to hitler's great great simpering, all of his brothers, people don't know that. >> they don't and he spent quite a bit of time writing about this. what was going on tween the end of slavery, reconstruction, through the jim crow era and before modern-day movement, he chartered the progress being made and it was remarkable progress. he saw income cap closing, poverty rates in america fell by 40 percentage points 1940 -- 60, that is before the civil r

here she was, she was in marxist groups, the harlem writers filled was full of leftist, and published her first story in marxist magazine in the aegis of a congressman named abraham pel lon ski, and the person who ran the harlem writers guild before killin was an open communist, named phillip benoski. she got her start as a writer under the tutelage of people on the left and very much in activities that were leftist. so there's a through line in her work and in her life of being in a kind of radical position in relationship to the united states. >> thought i might say something about one of the dimensions of williams' work and the confrontation with police brutality which appears early and wanted to make that connection because i didn't want to also ask mary helen if you would talk a little bit about the big question of african survival that emerges in -- specially for the black power people or black power artists and then another place of paule marshall leadership and that is something that kennedys to -- could be a little different maybe for williams, marsh in the second half of his

the judge's revelled in the author's comment and marks, moving through the underworld of 1960's harlem. it is a technically polished and good hearted display of a master novelist's skills. the next book is by joy williams. from one of the most celebrated voices in american fiction comes this unsentimental visionary statement, a novel that offers a chilling vision of our inescapable distaupe yin future. -- dystopian future. it is a major contribution to the library of eco fiction. >> congratulations to all the finalists. the winner of the 2021 prize for fiction is the book by joy williams. joy isn't able to join us live this evening, so she sent a message with her publisher deb garrison. >> wow, thank you and before i read a statement from joy, i want to just say thank you to this incredible group of finalists for your work. she's honored to be in your company. what a group. she says i'm so grateful to deb garrison -- oh, thank you, joy. she's grateful to everyone past and present who helped bring her book to the finish line and beyond. to my agents, amanda urban and molly atlas and to

and this is the 369th rebelment out of harlem. -- regiment out of harlem. and i told you the story, or perhaps i didn't, they go to france, they play this jazz. and all of a sudden people are looking up what is this, what is -- the french are looking bewilderedded. and then when they see that, they applaud in glory, and the french have never stopped liking jazz, and jazz musicians have never stopped liking france. but, and duboise writes that in the criticism, and then he changes his tune, and he writes later on as people come back from the war, we returned fighting, we return to fight. we should be victorious. and he's calling again for african-americans to join together. of course, that's in the midst of the 1919 riots which i spoke to you before where many soldiers who had fought in the war come home, including washington d.c. as he does, as he's moving -- the rise of another popular figure comes, and that is marcus messiah forward i have, born in queen anne -- garvey. dark-skinned man, eloquent speaker, very loquacious. he preys on the sentiments of afr

had aggregate power we go to harlem and plant trees. when i noticed my showed up at harlem no one was interested in planting trees but everyone showed up except for the boss who is door to be found. no one was planting trees for their telling investment war stories they catch up on the gossiper know what was planting trees which is a thing went to harlem to do. the managing director the guy at the top of the food chain by the name they were slim fit suits, tailored shirts they do not wear rolexes they have visibly cheap black rubber wrist strap. with it and said hey guys, take the pictures and get out of your that's exactly what we did. we started drinking but i asked when the older associates nearby and said look, we wanted to call it a social day we should've called it that rather than service day. and his response stuck with me. if you ever heard of the golden rule and i said of course i had. you treat others like you want to be treated. he said no, the golden rule is this. he who has the gold makes the rules. and that stuck with me

were examples ofxa criminal behavior sounds to me very much like johnson because immediately afterel harlem erupts, johnson takes the same steps that this is not about the civil rights protest. this is tied to juvenile delinquency. it's meaningless, it is a riot and the best way to respond is with police force. what johnson and obama meant is that this political violence is rooted in the same socioeconomic demands, the end to police brutality and terrorism. people are calling for better and more expensive systems, opportunities, college scholarships and to be treated like full citizens by their city and by their country. that is what the rebellions were about. and making and ignoring those and ignoring the demands but the people who participated in the rebellions were making we get into this policy cycle where the only response is more police. it' not to give people jobs or invest resources in the communities. it's to and trust resources within the surveillance and later incarceration. that's been the dominant view ever since that there've been forms of respectable protest and other protest

observation and looks like a veritable clinic and that is within the baptist church in the middle of harlem, it is happening inside. >> let's go to the next question. >> bloomberg. >> thank you for taking my question dr. fauci i was wondering i know nih is working on boosters for the b1 35 and i was wondering given what you were talking about with the delta if the lab is working on those boosters as well? >> yes, there is not a trial that is specific in the sense of variance specific boost, we did it with others but not that, importantly i want to point out there's two ways to approach boosting the original wild type where they were originally vaccinated it's a specific boost were approaching both of those but the one thing we notice that is important is the degree of immune response for the wild type with a secondary coverage that you have against a wide array of variance which is the reason why and we have reported in previous press briefings that when you look at the double doses of the mrna vaccines which we have thete most data it is rather good protection that spills over multiple var

and you plant trees and whati noticed when i showed up at harlem's nobody was interested in planting trees . everyone showed up except for the boss but nobody was planting trees. they were telling investment war stories andnobody was planting trees . the thing we went to harlem to do and of course the boss shows up an hour late and by the way goldman sachs wore temperatures but they don't wear rolexes, they where these cheap black rubber wrist strap digital watches as a show of sort of false humility but he shows up with that watch and says a, we're going to take pictures and get out of here and that's what we did. we went to the bar and started drinking. b i said if we wanted to call it a social day we shouldhave called it back . in his response stuck with me. he said have you ever heard of the golden rule? i said treat others the way treated and he said no, the golden rule is this. he has the gold makes the rules. i call it the golden rule and i turned out i did learn something valuable that summer after all it's the golden rule i followed 10 years later when goldman sachs declares

he'll never have rebuild or harlem if they have the floor, perhaps this if you really want black economic empowerment this requires universal healthcare, freed college free childcare. can employ one or two people that can maybe expand. once we suggest that public good undermines business, we lose that possibility. >> i know we have to go i have one quick question. people should rush out and buy this book. if we could just only give you a taste of it. you have a five month old baby at home. so you think you'll be able to go to mcdonald's for what are you going want to do there? >> is a thing this is what i have learned in my many months of parenting. i cannot determine what my child eats after a because i want him to be an autonomous person in the world, but this is what i do know. i know at the very least i will try my hardest to raise a very sensitive child who imagines that his choices make a difference. and whetherho it's what he eatsr how we treat others, and the will be a lot of real talk about mcdonald's that i think there will also be a lot of real talk about is that every choice w

all black peoplethat go to harlem and detroit and chicago, many of them are still there . that's whenmany of these families first arrived . so black folks getting better jobs. using those better wages to buy new homes where they could. to pay for rent in northern cities. not everything was peachy certainly but a lot ofafrican americans became middle-class at that time if you will because they were able to tap into these war industry jobs . for african-american women working outside in the south they were able to get jobs that were well-paying for the first time in their lives so if you are a black woman, if you live in alabama before world war ii the only job you could get wereworking as a domestic . as a maid or nanny or a cook but if you had a college to agree maybe you could be a teacher so that's pretty much it but if you leave alabama and you go to oakland you could get a job as a welder. you could join a union. you could get a good hourly wage paying job that paid you 100 or 900 percent more than what you were making back in alabama, washington in their backyard. so

many accounts say he arrived at harlem station. the father pretty much had to be somebody in the harlan circle. some of the accounts say they discovered his father was dead and then he became the property of james harlan while the mother somehow was sold down south. how these transpired was never explained. who the original owner was was never explained. how it was that he takes possession of this 8-year-old boy never completely explained. what is explained and he talked about later in life is that he took a tremendous interest in him at the time robert came to live with him he had recently married and had nine children but in all of the accounts he was raised by james, not his wife eliza. by the time john is born, roberts is a teenager and when he's a little boy, robert is into his early 20s and he is a sort of unique figure in the family in one sense he's known to be a special favorite of the patriarch who everyone else describes and we know in part because john's wife wrote a memoir after his death that the father was considered

go to harlem and you plant trees and when we showed up in harlem no one was interested in plantingtrees . everyone showed up except for the boss who was nowhere to be found but no one was planting trees. they were telling investment war stories and the thing we went to harlem to do but then of course the boss shows up an hour late, the guy at the top of the food chain which by the way goldman sachs ward tailored shirts they don't wear rolexes, they wear these cheap black rubber wrist strap digital watches as a show of humility but anyway he shows up not only with that watch but gucci boots and says we're taking pictures get out of here. that's what we did. we went to a bar nearby and started drinking and i asked one of the associates. i said we wanted to call it a social day we should have called it that rather than calling it service day and his response with me. he said have you ever ever heard of the golden rule ? i said you treat others like you want to be treated and he said no . the golden rule is this. he who has the gold makes the rules. and that stuck with me, i called it the g

they met in harlem, that's where they were largely headquartered. they're pretty influential in terms of getting people who worked on trains into this unit and fighting for increased african-american civil rights. because they're coming so influential in new york especially both in the state and the city of new york, a lot of white politicians stopped by their organization are at their convention to speak and pay homage. they wanted the black vote. and so their union meeting in 1940 attracts thousands of people. but among the thousands of people come to that meeting our newark city mayor laguardia, near state governor and future senator herbert lehman, united states secretary of labor frances perkins and the first lady are selfless at this union meeting. she speaks to the union mean that night. she says and i quote, the color line is gradual been broken down to becoming a thing about the past. all the other speakers get up and say we're going to attack jim crow the southwood were going to make sure african-americans have the right to vote. twelve da

this harlem book we were just discussing, i am recommending to all of the members of my conference were particularly interested in the law and supreme court which is a significant number of ourbe members. >> any fiction in your reading? >> iin confess, i really read fictionn. the last book i read, interestingly enough was also about polio it was a novel it wass called nemesis. it was like a historical novel , the characters were made up but facts were similar. it is about the polio epidemic of 1944 which simile enough was the last was the year i came down with it. >> host: yosenator mcconnell couple asked question your 2020 opponents, amy mcgrath has a new book coming out. is that when they will catch your attention at all? >> gosh honestly i don't usually read current books. there are a lot of them. i might take a look at it. it might have some mention of me. [laughter] >> host: center at mitch mcconnell republican leader of the u.s. senate, thank you for your time on book tv. >> thank you. >> here's a look look at some books being published this week. in peril at the "washington post"

when columbia expanded into west harlem because of community and student activism they were forced to put together a community benefits agreement with which offered constructive jobs, job training. but it didn't go far enough. even insiders at columbia say that the community benefits agreement there should have been based on the, it was a fixed rate, a fixed amount of money. it should have been based on the total value of thecampus development . when usc built usc village, local politicians, city councilmembers forced them to sign on to a community benefits agreement to get the right to rezone the area but the thing was that was zip code specific because sometimes they'd offer job training or jobs regionally so what happens is you have what suburbanites coming in getting the job in the neighborhood and don't dereceive the job so it has zip code specific job training and construction jobs. they built a firehouse in the neighborhood . so there's there was that. one thing though is that henry taylor junior who i talk about in the anchor institutions in the90s , he was coming out of a lac

all the black people that go to harlem, detroit and chicago, many of them are still there. that's when many people's families first arrived in those places, okay? so black folks get better jobs using those better wages to, you know, buy new homes where they could, you know, to pay for rent in the cities where they could. not everything was peachy, certainly, you know with, but a lot of african-americans became middle class at that time, if you will, because they were able to tap into these war industry jobs. for african-american women especially working outside of the south, they were automobile to get jobs that were well paid for the first time in many of their lives. if you were a black woman and you lived in alabama, before world war ii the only job you could probably get was working as a domestic, right? think somebody's maid, nanny or cook, something like that. if you had a college degree, you could be a teacher. that's pretty much it. but if you leave alabama and you go to oakland are, you could get a job as a welder. you could join a union. you could get a good hourl

so after shaw was one of the harlem renaissance hero writers, she published under her maiden name so she published under esther opal and this poem is called flag salute. i pledge allegiance to the flag. they dragged him naked through the muddy streets h, a feebleminded black boy and the charge imposed themselves on an aged woman of the united states of america. one mile they dragged him like a sack of meal. the rope around his neck, of late your left dangling by the patriotic hand of nordic youth. 17. and to the republic for which it stands, and then they hang his body to a tree. below the window of the ijudge whose speeding for that battered human flesh recycled by the rudest house of men and boys and women with their babies brought out to see e this money spectacle of murder in the style of 33. 3000 strong they were. one nation indivisible, to make the details they don't fire. what mattered that the stuff they burned was flesh and bone and hair and wreaking gasoline. when liberty and justice, they cut the rope and passed them out forsouvenirs among the men and boys . to keep golden

[laughter] it has the detriment -- >> harlem was not this violent gunfire, people don't understand that.. it's not what it became later so it was a very different place back then. >> is it fair to say, feel free to say it's not fair to say but i think most americans today, black-and-white have a picture of black life prior to the 60s as under servitude humiliation, non- achievement, such a distorted picture. obviously it was the evil of jim crow, we all understand that but jesse owens was an american hero in 1932 or 36, i don't remember which olympics, hitler's great chagrin, it was a black one who beat all of his runners. don't know that though, do they? >> they don't. thomas spent quite a bit of writing about this. of black history often overlooked. what was going on between the end of slavery, reconstruction through the jim crow era and before the modern-day civil rights movement in the progress being made, it was remarkable progress. he saw gaps close, income gaps closing. poverty rates for example in america fell by 40 percentage points 1940 to 1960. that before the civil rights ac