african. as long as you're black they say african american." i didn't deliver it like that, you're not doing myjokesjustice. all right, yeah. i'm not trevor noah and i'm not a comedian, satirist. i'm just asking, are they not african american? here's what you're missing. what you're doing right now is the equivalent of me saying, "now it's raining more than ever, i'll be here with you forever. you can always be my friend, standing under my umbrella. ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ‘ella, ‘ella, ‘ella, ay ay i seem like a mad person right now because i'm not doing everything that was within the context of the song umbrella by rihanna. when you're doing comedy merely by words, i spoke it, my eyes, my voice, my connection with an audience is completely different. people can see when you're being playful. people can see when you're saying something you don't believe. you were being playful about that? that is what satire is, you're

the pan african movement is a movement to bring forth africans and people from african caribbean, blacks in america latin america and the united states together for an international conference to speak about the oppression of black people. and he wrote the same year to the nations of the world there was a plea signed by all these leaders. and here you can see there to develop policies to decolonize, the after kri african countries. to stop the lynchings. to stop the hate. stop robbing of haiti and ghana and many other places. by 1919 it is fed up so much they cannot call for a pan african congress called in manchester, england. they had five of those. in 1940 to 1945. he'd want to have the first in america in the united states in new york, but woodrow wilson would not allow the other delegates a visa. they did not want these blacks to come in. remember by 1919 many africans had fought in world war i with the french forces. many blacks have gone and fought with european forces and they've come back to america. they went to france and got great dignity. in america they were treated the sam

jose anderson: you had a group of african-american professionals, a group of african-american creative people from which houston and marshall could draw encouragement from the whole post-harlem renaissance era, and so that community actually helped to energize momentum for the legal campaign across the entire country. jose anderson: new york was an exciting place to be the headquarters for the campaign. in fact new york had plenty of race issues of its own. thurgood marshall: after a riot would break in harlem a code number would go out to all policemen in the 123rd street precinct - that's right in the middle of harlem. in the meantime all of the white policemen in harlem, where the riot is going on, just stand perfectly still. and don't use a weapon, don't use a gun, just stand there until you're replaced. and then these guys go out in these other cars, and the colored fella taps the white fella on the shoulder, he gets in the car. and it about, well less than an hour, there are all black cops there. so where is the race riot? the race riot is gone. and then walter white, roy wilkins

americans and african studies so let's give him a warm welcome. [applause] >> thank you for having me. get this where it needs to be. it's great to be here with all of you and be in austin and at bookpeople in particular, the greatest mecca of independent books in texas . thanks to all of you for being here today, thank you especially to the afl-cio for cosponsoring and spreading the word about this project and to all my friends and family here with me today, it's great to have. so i'm going to talk for maybe 30, 40 minutes. i'll do some mixture of reading and summarizing and then will have time for a q and a at the end so please wait fora microphone. after that i will be able to find , youhave to go downstairs and bring it back up . so i suppose will begin with this election. the results rolled in last week. we were learned rather quickly that despite all the early polls and prognostication, texas remains a as red estate as ever. hillary clinton trailed donald trump by some 10 percent in the final polling. 800,000 votes so that means the idea of

who was enslaved, african woman. i want you to sort of think about and pause it, what the role and meaning of beauty plays into this and why there has been such a backlash that is certainly informed by racism, misogyny, et cetera, but this idea to have a representation that abided by certain measures of beauty. instead of looking at how tubman herself represented herself and for all of her freedom fighting, we see a woman who welds her old age even though we don't have extensive collection of images of tubman, we can see how she presented herself, what kind of physical deportment does she use? how was she photographed? what was her own sense of identity and beauty? self presentation was important. and it was a way for particularly enslaved people to control and take control or some semblance of control over their bodies, particularly in the period of slavery. seemingly frivolous practice for personal adornment of african-americaned, represented a way for them to reclaim their bodies outside of slave labor and even de

the untold story of african-american slaves in the white house. how would you say that the president, what has been his attitude of processing -- approaching gracious use ? issu he has been cautious. es. >> he has had to walk a fine line where he has to get across the message which he has wanted. a greater and better racial relations. not move so fast that it actually damages the other things he wanted to do as president which was get us out of the great recession. he had to walk an interesting line this entire time between going further and faster and making sure that race relations was not the only thing that his presidency would effect. he had this really incredible balancing act. a lot people will say he did too much. a lot of people will say he did not do enough. it is one of those things where he was going to be attacked either way. i think he did as much as he thought he could. there a lot of people that think he should have done more. he believes under his tenure race relations have improved. james: he definitely has said that repeatedly.

bbc african footballer of the game. bbc african footballer of the game. bbc african footballer of the year mahrez, mane and the hosts' aubameyang often in recent yea rs hosts' aubameyang often in recent years linked with a move to the premier league, the best have brought their best here to gabon. ed harry, bbc news, libreville. the first tennis grand slam

the other piece that came with it is that because they had worked so well, african-americans, african-americans and mexican americans exerted new power in which they wanted to put the priority first, understandably. white activists were not always ready for that. the end results i get into it in great detail in the tenth chapter. the coalition starts in fighting again and white liberals decide to go it alone. they form a group called the texas liberal democrat and they claim that they were going to have a group of individuals and be colorblind and speak for everyone. that did not work. it was a conflict over what the goals were for white liberals it was to win this fight with the democratic party i to rig good government to the state and it was about winning the next election. so they were just different visions. i argued that the unconscious often white supremacy of the liberal made it very difficult to see that. >> right after your book the economic opportunity act was passed. hundreds and thousands of people who were active went to work for headstart, legal aid or community action. minority

african-americans live in more than chicago. be hat is one thing we will looking for him to see what he's going to do. he's a republican, the republicans are big on business and economic rights. hat is an area african-americans need help as well as the caller said. looking to see administrationng has it say and will do for african-americans, for asian americans, ispanic when it comes to ras relations -- race relations whether on the economic or civil raoeuights si whether they will push forward reauthorizing parts of the voting rights act. to seedy will be looking what they do because this was not a huge topic for them during that he's n but now the president of all america we will be looking to see what the on nistration has to say these issues. host: there is ruth from ilmington, north carolina, independent line. caller: good morning. the topic g about ecause i feel as though the questi question, first question wasn't the idea ofctly and legacy of race relations under obama obama, president obama's legacy, that we focus too mu

41% of the african-american preponderance population. rural county. we continue to celebrate the past eight years successful with one of our own in the hospital. legendary people who remind us of the progress our country have made and our people have seen. revolutionary leaders like maxie water who remind us of the battle we have waged and won. justice warriors who show us importance of fighting for right and just. brilliant like bobby scott who help light the path to the proserous, andre carson, mash and the list goes on, you see the talent up here. however, we will miss a profound opportunity if we did not gather to celebrate. if we do not acknowledge the mood of people of color throughout nation. there are many americans especially black americans who cannot understand how ke got here today. coming off hope, pride, inspiration they are fearful of devision hate, and pettiness. many of our young people are frustrated with the fact they seem to be fighting the same causes that dr. king and ref rand jackson and many others galvanized coun

that book talks about georgetown as an african-american community. going back to the era of slavery. so again, there are people who know this history. i don't know if most of the people who live in georgetown today know that history. but it's something we could all learn. >> i guess considering the -- for 40 years of the period that you covered, jesus didn't exist per se. so it might be hard to answer this question. but in the document of mr. queen's petition, it was witnessed by what looked to be a priest. >> yeah. >> i don't know if he was episcopal yan, catholic, jesuit. i'm sure he wasn't a good friend with the father afterwards. i'm wondering if we know -- how much we know about protesting catholics. especially given the obedience to rome and to baltimore, what kind of -- what do we know about their conflict? this guy seems to be someone who was on the side of mr. queen. if i was dealing with petitions like this, that's what i might conclude. what do we know about priests who found themselves on the opposite side of the establishment? >> great.

nigeria's asisat oshoala grabbed her second african women's player of the year award. mahrez scored 17 goals as leicester won the english premier league title for the first time last season. caf say he polled 361 votes to beat last year's winner pierre—emerick aubameyang into second place, with sadio mane third. mahrez adds the title to the bbc african footballer of the year award he picked up last month. i want to thank everyone who came today for this award. it is usual 110w today for this award. it is usual now to receive this award. i am very happy and very pleased. i want to

the first african-american senator of new orleans. for more than 25 years, his outstanding contribution for encouraging community empowerment and efforts to eradicate urban blight as distinguished him as trailblazer in local and state government. state senator troy a. carter, sr. [applause] >> good morning. thank you to the armed forces and the armed color guard for the presentation of the colors. give them a big round of applause. [applause] and thank you to stephanie jordan for those beautiful renditions of the national anthem and "lift every voice and sing," did you feel it? that is good native new orleans theme. good soulful voices, give them a big, big round of applause. stephanie jordan. [applause] distinguished guests, friends and members of the congressional black caucus i am honored to serve as your emcee of the ceremonial swearing-in of the congressional black caucus of the 115th congress. i am also honored to be here to celebrate my dear friend, and fellow louisianaian congressman richmond to the new chair of the congressio

community about african-american issues. will he talked lgbt communities about lgbt stuff and do we find latinos -- [speaking spanish] we're only talking to people at the time to quit missing the fact that we are universal values in mind. when the reality is, african and i can scare about equal pay for equal work. and people in the lgbt community care about voting rights. and best anti-scene to the salad bar problem is what i saw on saturday when i was in south bend marching with the women a south bend in solidarity with women of the country and around the world. [applause] that was a women's march but it was in march for all of us. there were older people and young people and people of all colors. i suspect there were even some people from different political parties, all united in solidarity with the women of the world and i think solidarity, not isolation come is the way that we can move forward with this party. [applause] >> and congressman ellison spirit joy, you asked a question, which scripture we target and to identi

you sound like you are an african-american man. i'm an african-american woman. nuances.he rules and a black plan going to his -- man home with luggage and losing his key should never instances and some we have seen where officers have routine track stops and be ends dead is outrages and it wouldn't happen to a person who was not african-american or color.ven of and until the country gets to a place where it can talk honestly that is why i'm talking about a united america being one. until we can have the courageous conversations about what is your experience, pedro, when you ask is yours and we listen we will never break it down ecause white people see it as complaining, race baiting, et cetera and i think that is unfortunate because they don't black skin every day. host: would the legacy be seen up ssues that he has taken say on voting rights and criminal justice reform and and what will they show us as far as how he treated the issue. of a policy more guy versus more of an activist you had jessef if jackson as the first block resident it -- black president it w

then i found out there was an african-american cemetery. the cemetery i would say was the size of a large room.it was, it had some of them had been obtained by roots, children at an angle and we could hear gunshots there which people were doing target practice and i thought then that it looked like headstones but have been struck by bullets. the holes didn't go all the way through but it was clear dumping had said. and once i took in the physical dimensions of this, i could feel the spirit of the past. and it was palpable area and all of us african americans, some white, we can all feel the spiritual significance because i was looking at the site, people who had accompanied me on this journey and there was something amazing about this that we felt embrace. i think for me personally, it was my permission to tell the story. i started with thestories i remembered . and the stories kept rolling because i continued to pay classes on poetry and literature. and i lived in state college and i found out through a lot of mentors who had been kind pro

, oh, look, an african-american friend. he'd have people beaten up in his audience when they were. sometimes they were his supporters when they were african-american. his proposals -- i mean, look at his cabinet so far. only one african-american. he's put where -- the place where they -- a lot. republican presidents put their one african american in their cabinet which is housing and urban development. a person, ben carson, who has expressed no interest in housing his entire life. it is really -- there is no one else in the administration and i think the idea that he's going to be looking out for the interest of african-americans -- i'm very skeptical about that. >> agree, dispute? can president-elect donald trump can he bridge a gap with the african-american community? >> of course. it has been disgraceful. chaka fattah, prison. liana washington, prison. we can go down the line. 26 philadelphians who have been indicted, convicted -- >> john purcell. >> that's one from seven years ago. >> brett fees. >> i can give you a lot

african-americans. the descendents of those africans. in eight years do you believe that we can correct something that's been going on all the time? and i'm not saying that he gets a pass, but there needs to be something put in place to change the dynamics of what has been happening historically. >> host: professor glaude who teaches at princeton university, "democracy in black: how race still enslaves the american soul." what are you hearing so far? >> guest: well i mean, we know that it's going to take time to assess the significance and substance of obama presidency. we know what's following. we know the country is deeply divided. and i think part of what we have to do is to kind of take a cold detached and objective look at the substance, as far as we know, of his time in the white house. what we do know is that unemployment i think right now is about four point 6% speared the national average among african-americans. it's about eight point 1%. a doubling. it's an indictment of his approach. because

41% of the african-american population in this country. and that population is spread out through different parts of the country, urban centers, suburban neighborhoods, and rural counties. we continue to celebrate the past eight years of successful leadership with one of our own in the white house. there is much to celebrate, and that is due to the heroes and sheroes that came before us. legendary people like john lewis and eleanor holmes norton who remind us of the progress our country has made and her people have seen. revolutionary leaders like maxine waters and bobby rush who remind us of the many battles that we have waged and the many battles we have won. social justice warriors like jim clyburn and elijah cummings who show us every day the importance of fighting, fighting for what's right and fighting for what's just. brilliant luminaries like bobby scott and barbara lee who helped like this nations past for a more prosperous and inclusive future. and our next generation of strong courageous leaders like yvette clarke, hakeem jeffri

and the anti-slavery presence, and by african-americans in the west, there wasn't enough readership, and enough subscribers because he was outdone by the frederick douglass paper. we didn't get media attention. it doesn't add and also struggles to launch successful publications. douglas has been sustained, and they don't know the name, and it is

common names among african-americans. that's because the community was divided. there were people who were slaves and people who were free who shared these names and these histories. but the sale in 1838 picks up the jesuit slave community and pulls it out of that context and plops them down in louisiana. now, in many cases in the history of the domestic slave trade it's difficult, very difficult, if not entirely impossible, to trace slaves sold in the upper south to their destinations in the deep south. although there are literally tens of thousands of enslaved people recorded on these ship manifests in the national archives and a lot of them have been digitized, you can search these manifests, figuring out what happened to them once they got off these boats is tough to do. that's another reason why this case, the georgetown case of the maryland jesuit slave community is so valuable for historical research because we know where they ended up. at least many of them. not all of them, but many of them. some ended up on henry johnson's chatham plantation in ascensio

professor brown was a champion of the african-american history of washington, d.c. and it's a real thrill for me to be able to honor her work and life in this forum. it was really just touching and moving to hear your recollections of your grandmoth grandmother. and i can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear from you that she would approve of and appreciate the work that we're doing at georgetown. i mean, that's pretty much the best introduction i've ever gotten to talk in my life. i really appreciate that. i just hope that we would do her proud. i'd also like to thank the national archives for hosting us. and for all of you for being here in person or perhaps watching remotely through the magic of youtube or maybe later on c-span. i just really appreciate your interest in history. sometimes these days it seems like teaching and learning about history is an uphill battle. we're so focused on the present. we look forward to the future. so few of us actually pause to reflect on the past on where we've come from and how it shapes who we are today. so to see so many

19-year-old, just horrific, 19-year-old african-american michael donald. in alabama. and the assistant district attorney harrison at the time prosecuted the case in state court, he was quoted as saying, sessions asked what we needed, because sessions was the u.s. attorney. what they needed in other words to go after the culprits that would do such a horrendous says, i ct, and he said, in order to get a capital murder conviction, we need these things. and he -- talking about jeff sessions, said in regard to whatever the federal agents did or the f.b.i. did, he would make those things available, he did in fact do that. i don't know. that's the kind of jeff sessions i've gotten to know over the years. little heart breaking to hear allegations about a guy, i really like him. and then to hear allegations that i've heard made about me in a grossly unfair manner. and i can't explain all of the allegations about -- that are so grossly unfair about jeff sessions. but i can address some of the things that have been alleged to make him unfit to be attorney general th

, not to buy south african gogold, investors s and capitits would withdraw their support for the racial tyranny that we find, then apartheid would be brought to an end. amy: today, dr. king city tubal address december 7, 1964 in london. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today is the federal holiday honoring dr. martin luther king. he was born january 15, 1929. he was assassinated april 4, 1968, at the lorraine motel in memphis, tennessee. he was just 39 years old. whilile dr. king is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor, organizing the poor people's campaign to address issues of economic justice. dr. king was also a fierce critic of u.s. foreign policyy and the vietnam war. in 1964, dr. king became the youngest recipient of the nobel peace prize. days before he received that award in oslo, nororway, dr. kig traveled t to london. on december 7, 1964, dr. king gave a speech sponsored by the british group christstian action about the civil rights struggle in

then i found out there was an african-american cemetery the size of a large room. it was the head stone, some of them were up heaved by roots at an angle and we could hear gunshots, people were doing target practice and i saw things that looked like head stones could have been struck by bullets, it was clear something had struck it. once i took in the physical dimension of it, i could feel the spirit of the past. it was passable and all of us, some of us were african-american, some were white and we could fear the spiritual significance. people who accompanied me on this journey and there was something amazing about this, felt embrace stand for me it was permission to tell the story. i started with the stories that i remembered and the stories kept growing because i continued to take classes on poetry and literature at penn state and i found out through a lot of mentorship, kind professors, they helped me to know i needed to tell my stories in poetry. when i wrote this book of poems i wanted to decompress the anger. as i wrote this book of poems i found answers to

we only talk to the african american about african american issues. we only talk to the lgbt community about lgbt stuff and find latinos -- [speaking spanish] >> we're only talking to people one at a time. we have universal values when the reality is african americans care about equal pay for equal work and people in the lgbt community care about voting rights and the best answer to the salad bar problem is when i saw on saturday when i was in south bend marching with the women of south bend in solidarity with the women of the country and around the world. [applause] >> that was a women's march, but it was a march for all of us. there were old people and young people, and people of all colors, and i suspect there were people from different political parties, all united. united in solidarity with the women of the world, and i think solidarity, not isolation is the way that we can move forward as a party. [applause] >> congressman? >> joy, you asked the question, which group should we target when you identify the percentages that voted for the candidate

that african-american cop that was gunned down. just the other day. these officers are putting their lives on the line. those cops in dallas, we all had tears in our eyes. real tears. they were trying to let these people demonstrate peacefully. and they were gunned down. the outrage in this country. >> sean: that raises, james, another question. that is the black lives matter group. i mentioned the four high-profile race cases that he inserted himself into as an attorney and president. i think it was unwise especially without due process or evidence being produced. then he invites a group that is on tape chanting pigs in a blanket, fry them like blankets. how do you possibly justify dissociation as somebody who says that wants to be a racial hero? >> the argument was that the great uniter, not the great divider. we've already talked about it ad nauseam. it is to divide and conquer. the race card has always been an easy card to play. instead of talking about the issues that are at the heart of the problem, the family, we start to look at other areas li

one of our dnc members from new hampshire is african-american. as head of the state chair's association i hired the first african-american woman to be the executive director of the association and our first director of training african-american woman. the leadership of the state chair's association are filled with african-american, latino and people of color and young people as well. that's what my record is that's what i will fill the dnc chair as well. >> i would make sure more diverse talent is recruited. there's framework reproducing activities and framework transforming activities. everyone on this stage pretty much wants the same thing. if you want to see why i believe i'm the right person, look at south bend. we have worked with the vendor base. and assumed responsibility by the way for how diverse the vendor base is in the first place. part of the solution is in this room. we have a lot of work to do. the party has to assume responsibility for that. if we are not living our values and walking the walk we will not be fataken seriously as a

and in the case of african americans, part of that story has been lost. so what the attempt to use genetic ancestry testing, to find a nation state, ethnic group, information you department have access to before, before we had new technologies that allowed to us make some best guesses about where people of african descent and the u.s. might be from and then allow you to complete a story. so the identity piece and story people are very much connected. >> sreenivasan: there is also a notion of ownership. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: for a second this is i am opting into it. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: and i own this. and i will take this piece of information i and know i have this to myself. >> that's the critical piece because we know for communities of color, that genetics has not always been a rosy space of research, and that there have been historical tragedies in the past that would lead, particularly african americans, to be suspicious of genetic testing. and so the aability to opt in, the ability to now in the 21st century to use genetics to do something powe

>> guest: i am a professor of african-american studies and history at emory university. and i teach civil rights and human rights and u.s. cold war foreign policy. >> host: how long? >> guest: i've been teaching since 1996.ou go so two decades. >> host: where did you grow up? >> guest: columbus, ohio. colum >> host: so it's not just the south necessarily? >> guest: no. >> host: did you grow up in an integrator or segregated area? >> guest: when we moved in my father was a military man. had been career military. so after serving 20 plus years in the army he moved the family to columbus, ohio, because you want to my brother to go to ohio state.o ohio when we got there there was a house, a member and oakland park my mother wanted. to the real estate agent said no, you people don't live there. i will show you where you people live. so we bought a house in the neighborhood that, by the time was integrated, within 10 years there was only one white family left.te famil and so my elementary and my junior high were almost predominantly black, and i went blessed in high school. >>

african-american women without worked at nasa. jamie yuccas has the story. >> you think you can find me a different-- for this data. >> yes, sir. i prefer it over. >> hidden figures tells the true story of the black female math maticians at nasa who helped launch john glenn into orbit. >> that's john glenn. >> what do you do for nasa. >> calculate your launching card nights. >> engineer. >> the women katherine g johnson, dorothy vaughn and mary jackson were part of nasa's group of human computers. oscar winner octavia spencer was the first to sign on. >> when i learned that these women did exist and did make these contributions, i felt compelled to be a part of the telling of their story. >> you have identification. >> we are just on our way to work at nasa, sir. >> i had no idea they hired. >> quite a few women working in the space program. >> as women and as african-americans they faced and

if you want to reach african-american go to the african-american community and talk to them. unfortunately, president-elect trump has not been able to talk in a way that reveals that's someone not stuck with an 1980s view of african-american life or urban life. that's the fear you see in the eyes of african-american is eight years of, not great years, because we just launched week after week of african-americans being killed in police involved shootings, but there's a comfort that the person sitting in office understood. >> up next, this "hardball" where the action is. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chce of completely clear skin with taltz. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability

bbc african footballer of the game. bbc african footballer of the game. bbc african footballer of the year mahrez, mane and the hosts' aubameyang often in recent yea rs hosts' aubameyang often in recent years linked with a move to the premier league, the best have brought their best here to gabon. ed harry, bbc news, libreville. the first tennis grand slam of the year is under way. and we've had outr first shock, romania's simona halep, ranked four in the world, has been knocked out by the american shelby rogers. halep was beaten in straight sets 6—3, 6—1. just straight sets 6—3, 6—1. like she was last year going out just like she was last year going out in the first round. next on rod laver arena is american venus williams against ukrainian kateryna kozlova. andy murray, the world number one, will begin his bid for a first australian open title against ukraine's ilya marchenko in the rod laver arena later. murray has reached five finals in melbourne but lost on every occasion, four times to defending champion novak djokovic and once to roger fede

he put his life in the hands of this african-american woman. if her numbers didn't match up, he wasn't going to go. if her numbers matched up, of course, he went. >> he wanted to know where he was going to land? >> absolutely. >> key information. they got to get to it. but you were in the help. >> i was in "the help." >> and i remember that meal you cooked up for inwhite lady. we're all going to remember that. this tastes interesting. so you have gotten at it from the jim crow thing a couple ways now. >> yeah, jim crow is a very difficult time to immerse yourself in, but when you're doing a period film, we have agency as contemporary women that african-american women did not have in the jim crow era. so there's something wonderful to be said about the solidarity we fel on the set, very insulated. ted created a safe place for us to work and have fun. >> i like the way you term it, you look up at the sign that says colored computers, still up there. they designate you by your ethnicity. let's take another look at the movie. >> catherine, go find

of course the real protagonists at heart of the story are the african-american farmers, field hands, ministers, merchants and servants who were forced out by the mobs. all my life these people had been an absence, vanished civilization whose names and struggles i assumed were unknowable and now lost forever. but i have come to know more about them than i ever thought possible. and come to know just how heroically they carried on. this is joseph kellogg who is the largest black property owner in the county. he founded the colored methodist church and was a real leader in the community. one of the lives i had kind of picked up growing up in the county that the black community was this monolithic group of very poor, marginal sharecroppers and there were plenty of people like that including ernest knox and oscar daniel but there were also educated and property-owning african-american citizens who were deeply ehe meshed in the culture of some of the elite white people in the county. this was a surprise to me. it complicated my sense of both the white community and the black community. i'm

, not african—american, you know? and that was a challenge. the challenge of understanding the historical relevance of what was going on with him during that time and all the countries in that region, you know, and the attacks that were going on, the colonialism. all these things were opportunities for me to continue to grow. i had to learn a new language. i was working on swahili, so i could actually speak in the film in that language and be able to improvise a little bit in the language. i had to learn musical instruments because that was one of his things. it was like a party in a box, this accordion that he was playing, it allowed him to create a party wherever he wanted. it was certain qualities of his personality that were interesting. very taxing as well, you had to put on 50lb, didn't you, to take the role on, something like that? you must have been eating a lot, forest, in the run—up to that! yeah, well, during that time, i just kept eating. so as an african—american going to the continent of africa for t