>> WELCOME TO "BASIC BLACK."

SOME OF YOU ARE JOINING US ON OUR BROADCAST AND OTHERS OF YOU ARE JOINING US ON OUR DIGITAL PLATFORMS.

I'M CRYSTAL HAYNES, YOUR HOST TONIGHT.

CALLIE CROSSLEY IS OFF.

TONIGHT, "WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER: HIS LEGACY AND INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE."

WE, LIKE YOU, ARE DEALING WITH THE EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, AND ARE TAKING PRECAUTIONS.

WE ARE WORKING WITH LIMITED STAFF, AND OUR GUESTS ARE JOINING US REMOTELY.

"BOSTON GUARDIAN" NEWSPAPER CO-FOUNDER AND EDITOR WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN SUPPORT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.

ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT WHICH LATER BECAME THE N.A.A.C.P., HIS ACTIVISM WAS CONTENTIOUS, AND AT TIMES AT ODDS WITH OTHER BLACK LEADERS, LIKE W.E.B.

DUBOIS.

HIS RIGOROUS DEBATE EXTENDED TO THE WHITE HOUSE, CHALLENGING PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON ON SEGREGATION IN THE FEDERAL OFFICES.

AS WE RECOGNIZE MR. TROTTER'S LEGACY, WE REFLECT ON HIS IMPACT ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS TODAY FOR A NEW GENERATION.

JOINING US REMOTELY: REVEREND CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR FOR THE WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER COLLABORATIVE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AT HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL'S CENTER FOR PUBLIC LEADERSHIP.

DR. PAULA AUSTIN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY DEBORAH DOUGLAS, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF "THE EMANCIPATOR."

AND, LALOU TROTTER DAMMOND, WHO IS A DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER.

SHE IS CURRENTLY MAKING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER, WHO WAS HER GREAT-GREAT UNCLE.

WELCOME TO YOU ALL.

REVEREND BROOKS, WHAT DOES ACTIVISM LOOK LIKE TODAY?

AND WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER'S FIGHT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS?

SO ACTIVISM TODAY IS REALLY AT AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL.

SO WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT AND TALK ABOUT THE 19 '60S AS THE GOLDEN ERA WITH A NOSTALGIC TONE IN THEIR VOICES, THEY NEED TO CONTEMPLATE THE FACT THAT IN THE WAKE OF GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH, 26 MILLION AMERICANS, IN 515 JURISDICTIONS TAKE TO THE STREETS, WE HAVE NOT SEEN THIS LEVEL OF ACTIVISM IN LITERALLY A GENERATION.

SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, THE ACTIVISM IS WIDESPREAD, IT'S A DIGITALLY INSPIRED.

BUT IF WE LOOK BACK A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, LOOK BACK AT THE TIME OF TROTTER AND WE THINK ABOUT THE FEROCITY OF HIS ACTIVISM, WE THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT HIS ACTIVISM TOOK PLACE IN THE CONTEXT OF VOTING RIGHTS, OPPOSITION TO SEGREGATION, OPPOSITION TO LYNCHINGS, THAT EXORTS WITH WHAT WE SEE TODAY, NAMELY OPPOSITION TO VOTER SUPPRESSION.

OPPOSITION TO THE MODERN DAY LYNCHING, THAT IS TO SAY POLICE BRUTALITY AND POLICE HOMICIDE.

SO WHAT I AM SAYING IS THE ACTIVISM OF TODAY IN MANY WAYS MIRRORS WHAT WE SAW DURING TROTTER'S TIME AND LEADERSHIP AND IN TERMS OF LESSONS, I WOULD SAY A FEW.

NUMBER ONE, THINKING ABOUT THE FEROCITY, IS THE INTENSITY OF HIS ACTIONS.

NUMBER TWO, THE FACT THAT THERE WAS AN INTELLECTUAL BASIS FOR IT THIS WAS INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT MAN, THE FIRST BLACK PHI BETA GRADUATE OF HARVARD, THERE WAS AN UNCOMPROMISING QUALITY TO HIS ACTIVISM.

OF THE NEWSPAPER IT WAS BITTER, PERSONAL, SATIRICAL, THAT NOT EVERYONE AGREED WITH IT.

BUT EVERYONE READ IT.

THE POINT BECOME HE WAS BLACK TWITTER BEFORE THERE WAS TWITTER.

SO IN THIS MOMENT IF WE THINK ABOUT ACTIVISM, I THINK WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT IN A WAY THAT I THINK AS HE DID WHICH IS TO SAY-- THAT YOU TAKES THE FIGHT TO THE PEOPLE, RIGHT.

IN OTHER WORDS YOU HAVE PEOPLE INVOLVED, ORDINARY PEOPLE INVOLVED, THAT YOU ENGAGE AND EDUCATE PEOPLE, ALL DIFFERENT CRIMES AND BACKGROUNDS AND LAST POINT HERE IS INTEGRITY.

THE FACT THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE TO THE CALLS OF HIS PEOPLE IN WAYS THAT DID NOT RESULT IN REMUNERATION.

HE DIDN'T GET RICH.

HE WASN'T LOOKING FOR FOLLOWERS.

HE WEANLTS LOOKING FOR CLOUT.

HE WAS LOOKING TO SERVE HIS PEOPLE.

AND THAT IS AN INSPIRATION IN THIS MOMENT.

>> DR. AUSTIN, I WANT TO ASK YOU, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO CONTINUE TEACHING ABOUT TROTTER'S PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM?

>> INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

I THINK YOU KNOW, A LOT OF MY STUDENTS SHOW UP AND THEY HAVEN'T HEARD OF HIM BEFORE, EVEN STUDENTS WHO ARE FROM BOSTON DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW WHO HE WAS.

THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE GUARDIAN AND THESE ARE STUDENTS WHO ARE REALLY STEEPED IN UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MEDIA, SPECIFICALLY SOCIAL MEDIA IN OUR CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT.

SO TROTTER IS THIS GREAT PERSON TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MEDIA EARLY IN THE 20th CENTURY, IN THE LATE 19th CENTURY AS WE GET, YOU KNOW, A GROWING BLACK INSTITUTIONS AND BLACK INTELLECTUAL LEADERSHIP, IN THE NEW NEGRO MOVEMENT OF THE EARLY 20th CENTURY, LATE 19th CENTURY.

AND I THINK THE OTHER PIECE OF WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT TROTTER'S ROLL IN THE NEGRO MOVEMENT AGAINST ALL OF THE THINGS THAT REVEREND BROOKS JUST LAID OUT, ANTI-LYNCHING, AGAINST VOTER SUPPRESSION, SUFFRAGE, RACE AND REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA.

SO THE PROTESTS GET REPRESENTATION, FOR EXAMPLE IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND TROTHER'S ROLL, RADICAL ROLL IN THAT MOVEMENT BECAUSE IT HELPS US LOOK AT OUR CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DEBATE, THE DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN MOVEMENT LEADERS OR BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS BETWEEN ACTIVISTS ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH A PARTICULAR GOAL WHAT ARE THE STRATEGIES AND I THINK WE GET SUCH AN INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE IN THE EARLY NEGRO MOVEMENT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF THOSE DEBATEDS AND THE NECESSITY OF MULTIPLE STRATEGIES, RIGHT, SOME OF WHICH WE MIGHT CALL RADICAL.

AND OTHERS THAT MAY BE SEEING MORE CONSERVATIVE OR SORT OF LIBERAL AT THEIR HEART.

BUT WE ACTUALLY NEED THE DIVERSITY OF STRATEGIES AND THE DIVERSITY OF IDEOLOGIES AND APPROACHES TO MAKE ANY MOVEMENT SUCCESSFUL SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT TROTTER'S IDEOLOGIES, HIS STRATEGIES, HIS APPROACHES, AS WELL AS DUH BUOY D-- I THINK WE NEED ALL OF IT.

>> I THINK THE LAST THING I WILL SAY IS JUST THE MESSINESS OF THAT, IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO SEE HISTORICALLY AND FOR US TO HELP US LOOK AT THE CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

LaLOU I WANT TO ASK YOU, I KNOW THAT YOU ARE PUTTING TOGETHER THIS FILM AND YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE THESE FAMILY TIES, RIGHT, AND STORIES THAT ARE PROBABLY PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS, WHAT KIND OF SIMILARITIES OR DIFFERENCES DO YOU SEE IN THE WAY THAT YOUNG ACTIVISTS ARE PRACTICING YOU KNOW, ACQUIRING THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS OR AFFIRMING THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS TO YOU KNOW, YOUR GREAT, GREAT UNCLE'S WORK AND HIS TECHNIQUES THERE?

>> THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION.

I WOULD LIKE TO ECHO A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT PAULA WAS SAYING WHICH IS THAT, AN IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE IT IS A LITTLE CONTRADICTARY TO MONROE TROTTER AWAY WHICH IS THAT WE DO NEED A DIVERSITY OF VOICES IN THE MOVEMENT.

AND TROTTER ON THE OTHER HAND SAY LITTLE BIT, YOU KNOW, HE WAS VERY AGAINST BOOKER T WASHINGTON'S ACCOMMODATION, OF, YOU KNOW THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DESCRIBE WHAT BOOKER T WASHINGTON WAS CONFRONTING WHEREAS TROTTER REALLY HAD, WAS DISMISSIVE OF THAT.

HE FELT THAT THE RADICAL WAY WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAD TO SEIZE THEIR RIGHTS AND COULDN'T WAIT FOR WHITE PEOPLE OR OTHERS TO ENSURE THEIR SIFERL RIGHTS.

AND I THINK TODAY, I THINK WE HAVE THOSE VOICES THAT ARE RADICAL, OF COURSE, AND THEN WE HAVE THE SPECTRUM.

AND I THINK THAT MAYBE THERE WILL BE PEOPLE ON THE RADICAL WHO THINK THE MORE MODERATE ROUTE IS A WAY WASTE OF TIME.

BUT YOU KNOW, I THINK FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, I THINK WE DO NEED ALL VOICES AND WE NEED TO WORK, HOPEFULLY TOGETHER, ALL PRONGS AT WORK TO GAIN MOMENTUM AND PROGRESS.

>> AND DEBORAH, BRINGING YOU IN HERE, WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT JOURNALISM, AND OTHER MEDIA TYPES, I MEAN WHERE DO YOU SEE CHARTER'S LEG-- TROTTER'S LEGACY IN THAT AND WHERE DO YOU SEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALISM SINCE.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

WELL, I AM-- WE ARE TAKING A CASE DIRECTLY FROM THE TROTTER HANDBOOK IN TERMS OF BEING UNCOMPROMISING IN OUR REIMAGINING OF WHAT JOURNALISM REQUEST DO AND BE FOR THE PUBLIC.

NOT JUST FOR BLACK AUDIENCES BUT FOR A LARGER AUDIENCE, ESPECIALLY THAT WAS CONVICTED BY THE-- CONVINCED BY THE FEKS OF TO 20RBGS GEORGE FLOYD, AND THE DISPARATE IMPACTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

AND SO WHEN I GO BACK AND ENGAGE WITH THE TROTTER STORY AND I SEE HOW HE WAS A TRAIL BLAZER FOR DIRECT ACTION, WHICH IS THE MODEL FOR THE MIDCENTURY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, YOU SEE HOW THAT IMPACTS THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT TODAY AND HOW THAT HAS CREATED THIS HUNGER FOR DEEPER CONTEXT AND HISTORICAL-- THAT CAN BE PULLED THROUGH TO TODAY TO HELP US MAKE BETTER DECISIONS.

WE TAKE THAT TURN VERY SERIOUSLY.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

AND REVEREND BROOKS, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, 150 YEARS OF WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER AS A COLLABORATIVE CONFERENCE.

TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHT THERE.

>> SO FIRST OF ALL, I'M SO THANKFUL THAT BOTH DEBORAH AND LaLOU ARE HERE BECAUSE THEY WERE SO KEY, SO IMPORTANT TO THAT EVENT.

SO 150 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF WILLIAM MONROE'S FATHER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY WAS CALLED TO RECOGNIZE HIS RADICAL LEGACY ON HIS CAMPUS.

SO THAT INVOLVED INVITING STUDENTS FROM THE WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WITH THE TROTTER FAMILY AND IN THE COURTYARD LIFTED UP HIS LEGACY IN FRONT OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE, PERHAPS 150 YEARS TOO LATE.

IN TERMS OF THE HARVARD RECOGNIZING TROTTER'S LEGACY.

AND THEN ON THE FIRST DAY WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE THE TROTTER FAMILY TALK ABOUT HIS LEGACY IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR FAMILY'S STORY.

WE HAD KEISHA BLAIN WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF THE WONDERFUL BIOGRAPHY GIVE A LOCATE TURE, WITH THE PRESIDENT OF HARVARD AND THE DEAN OF THE KENNEDY SCHOOL ABOUT THE TROTTER LEGACY.

AND THEN THE SECONDS DAY, AND THE SECOND DAY WAS ABOUT NOT 150 YEARS AGO, OR EVEN THE INTERVENING CENTURY AND A HALF BUT 2022.

WE HAD YOUNG ACTIVISTS AND ACADEMICS, AND AN ADVOCATES ALL ON THE SAME PLATFORM TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO TODAY IN TERMS OF REPARATIONS, WHAT WE CAN DO TODAY IN TERMS OF VOTING RIGHTS.

WHAT WE CAN DO TODAY IN TERMS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

SO WE DISCUSSED BOTH THE POLICY, THAT IS TO SAY WHAT ARE THESE ISSUES, WHAT IS THE POLICY CONTENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY, BUT ALSO WHAT CAN WE DO AND HOW DO WE DO IT?

HOW DO WE RAISE MONEY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM, HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH THE PREP.

HOW DO WE GET OUR MESSAGE OUT.

HOW DO WE DO DIRECT ACTION.

>> SO IT WAS INCREDIBLY EXCITING AND I LOVE TO BELIEVE, I LOVE TO BELIEVE THAT ITS TROTTER WOULD BE PROUD OF WHAT WE TRIED TO DO IN HIS NAME.

>> AND LaLOU I WANT TO ASK YOU, TROTTER WAS A FAMILY BE MEMBER THERE, HOW DID HIS LEGACY IMPACT MAYBE THE FAMILY STORIES, WHAT YOU RANT INTO, THINGS LIKE THAT.

>> VERY MUCH SO.

HE CAST A VERY, VERY LONG SHADOW ON OUR FAMILY'S WORLDVIEW FROM AS I LIKE TOO SAY, THE FRONT LINES, ALL OF US HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM OF ALL SORT.

AND MY KOWSIN, HAVE I SEVERAL DIFFERENT FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WENT INTO THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS, MY KOWSIN, MARRY ELLEN GOING ONE WHO HAD A LIFELONG CAREER THERE.

AND I THINK HE'S AN INSURANCE OPERATION THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE IT.

YOU KNOW, HE WAS FORGOTTEN IN LARGE PART IN THE AMERICAN HISTORY STORY AND THANKFULLY IS COMING BACK.

THERE WERE, STEVEN FOX ROUT A BOOK ABOUT THE GUARDIAN AND MONROE TROTTER AND MORE RECENTLY TERRY GREEN HAS WROTE A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY, BLACK RADICAL SO I THINK HE'S COMING BACK AND OF COURSE PROFESSOR BROOK'S COLLABORATIVE AT HARVARD IS ANOTHER BRINGING HIM BACK INTO THE AMERICAN STORY BUT FOR OUR FAMILY HE WAS, YOU KNOW, HALF WERE NAMED FOR HIM, HE IS A GREAT INSURANCE OPERATION.

>> I CAN IMAGINE, SPEAKING OF INSURANCE OPERATIONS, DEBORAH, WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE EMANCIPATOR, YOU ARE PREPARING TO LAUNCH THE RETURN OF THIS PUBLICATION AFTER 200 YEARS.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PARALLELS THAT YOU EITHER HOPE TO EMULATE OR PERHAPS BUILD UPON WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, OF COURSE, TROTTER'S PUBLICKING OF THE BOSTON GUARDIAN.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

WE ACTUALLY WATCH LAUNCHED ON MONDAY.

>> GREAT.

>> SO EMANCIPATOR.ORG.

BUT THE CHARTER NEWS AMERICAN-- HIS JOURNALISM AND OUR JOURNALISM WILL-- AN ENWE REALLY ARE SEEKING TRUE EMANCIPATION FROM MISINFORMATION, DS MFERTION, FROM HATE, FROM EXTREMISM, WE HAVE A LOT TO BE EMANCIPATED FROM.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

DR. AUSTIN, AS WE ARE ENCOURAGING A NEW GENERATION INTO YOU KNOW ADVOCATING FOR THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TROTTER'S WORK ACTIVELY NOW AND OF COURSE HIS HISTORY WITH PUSHING FEDERAL AUTHORITY?

I THINK THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.

YOU KNOW, I, ONE OF THE THINGS I CHALLENGE YOU TO DO IS THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE RADICAL WHAT DOES RADICAL MEAN, RADICAL MILITANT FOR EXAMPLE, AND I THINK ABOUT AND SHARE WITH THEM TROTTER'S STRATEGIES THAT WERE REALLY MULTIFACETED.

I MEAN OF COURSE HE IS THE EDITOR OF A MEDIA CORPORATION.

AND YOU KNOW, OF MALL CONTENT, A LEADER-- READERSHIP THAT IS MALL CONTENT.

BUT WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT WE NEED MALL CONTENT IN ORDER TO IMAGINE A NEW WORLD.

YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY IMAGINE A NEW WORLD WITHOUT HAVING SOME CRITIQUES OF THE WORLD.

AND SO THE STRATEGIES OF MEDIA, THE STRATEGIES OF DIRECT ACTION AND MASS PROTESTS, RIGHT, USING THE SPECTACLE TO GET MORE MEDIA CONFERENCE, BUT ALSO PETITION DRIVE, BOYCOTTS, CONVERSATIONS, HE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH SO MANY GOVERNORS OVER YOU KNOW, DECADES.

I MEAN WHO IS MEETING WITH THE GOVERNOR?

WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER.

AND SO, AND HE ALSO, YOU KNOW, PARTNERS AT THE N.A.A.C.P.

WHEN TWO BLACK STUDENTS ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO BE-- ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE IN A-- SEGREGATED DORM.

SO THERE IS COALITION BUILDING, THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS THAT TROTTER AND HIS MANY ORGANIZATIONS THAT HE START, THE SUFFRAGE LEAGUE, THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE, THE NATIONAL-- I MEAN YOU KNOW, OVER THE SPAN OF HIS LIFE HE WAS AT THE HEAD OF NOT JUST THE GUARDIAN BUT UP SEVERAL DIFFERENT GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAD, YOU KNOW, THAT SORT OF TOURED CERTAINLY IN THE NORTHEAST BUT NATIONALLY.

AND SO I THINK THE THING THAT I APPRECIATE BRINGING FORWARD FROM TROTTER'S LIFE AND FROM HIS WORK IS THE HEADEROGENAITY OF THE APPROACHES AND DIVERSITIES OF PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES THAT WERE INCLUSIVE OF COALITION BUILDING.

SO IT IS TRUE THAT HE ABSOLUTELY TOOK ISSUE WITH DU BUOYS AT AT SOME TIME W WASHINGTON FOR SURE, ALTHOUGH I'M SURE HE ALSO SAW WASHINGTON AS KIND OF LIKE THE OLD HEAD THAT YOU KIND OF NEEDED TO RECKON WITH.

WASHINGTON IS SORT OF 20 YEARS HIS SENIOR AT THE POINT THAT TROT CERTIFICATE SORT OF STARTING HIS ACTIVISM.

BUT YOU KNOW, BUT THERE IS COALITION BUILDING AND THERE ARE THESE MOMENTSES WHERE HE IS WORKING WITH PEOPLE THAT HE WAS AT ODDS WITH, AND SO I TRY TO BRING ALL OF THAT FORWARD TO HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMISM OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZES ING AND WHAT IT COULD LOOK LIKE, SO I THINK THEY OFTEN THINK WELL WE CAN'T WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT WE DON'T AGREE WITH AND WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO.

THOSE ARE IMPORTANT COALITIONS THAT WE HAVE TO BUILD WELL.

HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DO THAT.

>> ABSOLUTELY, REVEREND, I WANT YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE TENSION THAT TROTHER HAD WITH OTHER BLACK LEADERS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

AND HOW THAT MAY BE SHAPED THE WAY THAT THE MOVEMENT MOVED, YOU KNOW, THROUGH PRESENT GENERATIONS.

>> SO I MEAN THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS LIKE MOVEMENT LEADERS, AND ORGANIZATIONS WITH CONTENTIOUS, BUT I THINK THIS BEARS NOTING.

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT TROTTER, BY CREATING THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR THE N.A.A.C.P.

WHAT IS LESS KNOWN IS THAT MODEL BASICALLY THE MODEL FOR THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN.

AND THE NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL SO TROTTER LAID A FOUNDATION FOR MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS WITH RESPECT TO CIVIL RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

AND SO WHILE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME-- TO BE CONTENTIOUS, BUT HE NEVER LEFT-- A UNIVERSAL FOUNDATION FOR SO MANY ORGANIZATIONS.

AND SO I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT.

NUMBER TWO, AS THIS PROFESSOR OFTEN LIFTED UP, HIS STRATEGIES WERE MULTIDISCIPLINARY, IF YOU WILL.

AND SO BECAUSE AT THE TROTTER COLLABORATIVE NAMED FOR HIM, WE WORK WITH ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND BLACK VOTERS MATTERS TO NATIONAL CENTER ON RACE AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO MAYORS, USING A VARIETY OF HIS METHODS FROM DIRECTION ACTION TO LITIGATION, TO MUB LICK AND SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.

THE POINT BEING HERE IS YES, HE HAD A CONTENTIOUS RELATIONSHIP, HE STARTED MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS, HE PROBABLY COULD NOT BE CALLED AN INSTITUTION MAN.

HE WAS VERY MUCH AN INDIVIDUAL.

BUT HE CREATED A MASSIVE INSTITUTIONAL LEGACY THAT ENDURES TO TODAY.

>> WHY DO YOU THINK AND LaLOU I WANT TO ASK YOU THIS, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT MORE PEOPLE AREN'T AWARE OF TROTTER'S WORK, OF HIS LEGACY, OF HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AND WHAT DO YOU WANT FOLKS, OUR AUDIENCE, YOUR AUDIENCES AS YOU WORK ON FILMS IN THIS VEIN, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE AWAY FROM HIS WORK AND HIS LEGACY?

>> WELL, I THINK TO ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION, THE REASON I THINK HE'S NOT AS WELL-KNOWN WAS PARTLY BECAUSE HE WAS A RADICAL.

THAT HE, YOU KNOW, HE WAS SO, HE WAS CONTROVERSIAL, HE WAS UNCOMPROMISES.

HE, A LOT OF THE THINGS HE WORKED FOR IN HIS LIFETIME DIDN'T COME TO FEWICIAN-- FREUICIAN UNTIL LATER, WITNESS ONE OF HIS LIFE LONG WESTS WAS A FEDERAL ANTI-LYNCHING LAW.

ON HIS 150th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH WAS THE YEAR WE FINALLY GOT THAT.

SO I THINK SOME OF THAT, YOU KNOW, WITH RADICALS OFTEN THEY ARE NOT RECOGNIZED UNTIL PAST THEIR LIFETIME BECAUSE IT IS LOW AND RADICALS ARE NOT A SLOW TRAIN AND I THINK HE DID MAKE, HE DID, HE DID MAKE ENEMY OF FRIEND AND FOE, AND I DON'T MEAN ENEMY, YOU KNOW, WHEN HE DIED HE HAD A MASSIVE FUNERAL AND HE WAS SUSPECTED EVEN IF IT WAS GRUDGINGLY IN HIS LIFETIME BY HIS PEERS, DU BUOYS BEING ONE OF THE MAIN ONES, DUH BUOYS DIDN'T COMMENT BUT DID HE AND YOU KNOW, BEHIND THE SCENES, SO THERE WAS RESPECT FOR HIM BUT HE SWOOS-- THORNY IN SOME WAYS TIME LET GO OF HIM AND HE DIDN'T HAVE CHILDREN OF HIS OWN SO WHILE HIS REMAINING FAMILY MEMBERS WORKED TO KEEP HIS PAPERS AND ALL OF THAT, YOU KNOW, MAKE THEM SAFE AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT WAS RELEGATEDDED TO A PLACE IN HISTORY, HE DIDN'T HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS, CHILDREN OF HIS OWN WHO I THINK MAY HAVE BEEN A LOUDER VOICE IN PASSING ALONG HIS LEGACY.

AND YOU KNOW, WHAT I WANT MOSTLY IS JUST FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT BLACK HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY.

I THINK I FOCUSING AT THIS TIME THE DOCUMENTARY ON THE CON-- CONFRONTATION WITH WOODROW WILSON BECAUSE WOODROW WILSON WENT ON TO BE A LAUDED MAN AND TROTTER WAS FORGOTTEN.

AND THE CIVIL SERVANT WHO WORKED IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHO THEN FACED A SEGREGATED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WIPED OUT GENERATIONS OF BLACK WEALTH BY DEF MATING THE BLACK MIDDLE CLASS IN WASHINGTON D.C THIS IS AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN STORY AND THIS HISTORY IS SOMETHING THAT WE LEARN FROM.

AND YOU KNOW, TROTTER'S LEGACY I THINK IS ONE THAT WE MUST LEARN FROM.

>> AND DEBORAH, JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES LEFT BUT YOU ARE CONTINUING THIS WORK IN THE HE MANS RATE-- EMANCIPATOR, WHAT DO YOU HOPE READERS TAKE AWAY FROM WHAT YOU PRODUCE THERE?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

BASICALLY WE ARE USING BLACK LIT RAISE AS A POINT OF ENTRY OF FOUNDATIONAL IDEAS ABOUT FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

WE ARE EXPLORING THROUGH COMMON THEORIES EVIDENCE-BASED DRIVEN COMMUNITY FOCUSED COMMENTARY SOLUTIONS TO SOLVEING DIFFERENT TYPES OF DISINT RAISE IN CULTURE AND NORMS.

WE'RE USING A SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM APPROACH, A VERY SPECIFIC PRACTICE THAT ENGAGES SOMETHING CALLED ASSET EARNING WHICH IS-- PEOPLE BY THEIR ASPIRATIONS, DO WHO THEY PURPOSE THEMSELVES TO BE WHEN THEY GETS UP AS OPPOSED TO DEFICIT TRAINING, DEFINING PEOPLE OR INSTITUTIONS OR COMMUNITIES BY THE ONE BAD THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO THEM.

AND THAT IS A STORY THAT CAN BE TOLD SO MANY TIMES AND BECOMES THE ONLY STORY OR THE SINGLE STORY.

AND SO WE WANT TO TELL A FULLER, RICHER STORY FOR INTERSECTIONS OF RACE AND OTHER IDENTITIES AND PULL EVERYBODY INTO A DIALOGUE AND ACTION BASED ON THE CONTEXT THAT WE PROVIDE.

SO WE REQUEST ACHIEVE OUR TRUE NORTH WHICH IS REAL DEMOCRACY AND INCLUSION WHICH IS WHAT TROTTER ALWAYS WANTED.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

WELL, I HAVE TO SAY THAT THAT IS THE END OF OUR BROADCAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT THE CONVERSATION.

THE END OF OUR SHOW TOO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

NOW STAY WITH US AS WE CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION ON OUR DIGITAL PLATFORM ON FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE.

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