
Unsung Heroes of the March on Washington, 60 Years Later
Clip: 8/28/2023 | 17m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
Michael Eric Dyson discusses the historic March on Washington 60 years later.
60 years ago, huge crowds descended on Washington, D.C. to demand racial justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. made history when he addressed the crowd in his “I have a dream" speech. Last Saturday, thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the march and continue the fight for equality. Bestselling author Michael Eric Dyson joins the show to discuss the historic event and its legacy.
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Unsung Heroes of the March on Washington, 60 Years Later
Clip: 8/28/2023 | 17m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
60 years ago, huge crowds descended on Washington, D.C. to demand racial justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. made history when he addressed the crowd in his “I have a dream" speech. Last Saturday, thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the march and continue the fight for equality. Bestselling author Michael Eric Dyson joins the show to discuss the historic event and its legacy.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship>>> NOW, 60 YEARS AGO, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DESCENDED ON WASHINGTON, D.C., DEMANDING RACIAL JUSTICE.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
ADDRESSED THE CROWD AND SAID THOSE NOW ICONIC WORDS, "I HAVE A DREAM."
THOUSANDS GATHERED ON SATURDAY TO COMMEMORATE THE MARCH, BUT ALSO TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY.
"NEW YORK TIMES" BEST-RECEIVING AUTHOR MICHAEL ERIC DYSON JOINS WALTER ISAACSON TO DISCUSS THE HISTORIC EVENT AND ITS LEGACY.
>> THANK YOU, CHRISTIANE.
AND MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, WELL WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW.
>> THANK YOU, MY FRIEND.
>> WE'RE CELEBRATING THE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF NOW OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
THE FULL NAME WAS THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM.
TELL ME ABOUT THE ORIGINAL MISSION.
>> WELL, THE ORIGINAL MISSION, OF COURSE, AS YOU JUST ARTICULATED, WAS TO FOCUS ENERGY AND NATIONAL ATTENTION ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN QUEST FOR EQUAL EMPLOYMENT, AND FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, AND EVENTUALLY, OF COURSE, TO PROCURE THE VOTE.
THE GREAT A. PHILIP RANDOLPH IN THE 1940s MET WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND WITH HIS COMPATRIOTS TO TRY TO FORCE THE PRESIDENT TO TAKE ACTION.
INFAMOUSLY, PERHAPS IN THAT MOMENT, IT IS ALLEGED TO HAVE OCCURRED THAT THE PRESIDENT, LOOKING AT MR. RANDOLPH AND LOOKING AT MS. McCLOUD BETHUNE SAID, I BELIEVE IN EVERYTHING YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, GO OUT THERE AND MAKE ME DO IT.
CREATE THE CONTAGIOUS IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE FOR THE NOTION OF BLACK JUSTICE, FOR DESEGREGATING THE ARMED SERVICES, ET CETERA, AND THEN I CAN ACT.
SO, SOME 25-ODD YEARS LATER, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., A. PHILIP RANDOLPH, JAMES FARMER, JOHN LEWIS, WERE PART OF THE BIG SIX AND ROY WILKINS AND WHITNEY YOUNG FROM THE URBAN LEAGUE.
SO, IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE CONVO CASE OF LEADING BLACK FIGURES TO TRY TO PUT BEFORE THE NATION AN ARGUMENT ON BEHALF OF BLACK FREEDOM AND EQUALITY.
>> YOU TALK ABOUT THE SIX COMING TOGETHER, AND, OF COURSE, IT'S LED INITIALLY, AS YOU MENTIONED, BY A. PHILIP RANDOLPH.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS A GREAT UNION LEADER, AND SORT OF UNSUNG THESE DAYS.
>> I MEAN, FIRST OF ALL, LET'S START WITH THAT VOICE.
THAT ORATOR, WHEN HE INTRODUCES US TO MARTIN LUTHER KING J-R.
HE COULD PLAY THE VOICE OF GOD.
HE WAS JAMES EARL JONES BEFORE JAMES EARL JONES WAS JAMES EARL JONES.
A GREAT LEADER.
A SOCIALIST IN THE EARLY 1900s, WANTING SYSTEMIC REFORM FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE.
IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE, A GREAT UNION LEADER, THE BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CARPORTERS WAS HIS SIGNIFICANT OUTLET, WHERE HE ORGANIZED THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF BLACK MEN, MANY OF WHOM HAD COLLEGE DEGREES, BUT WHO FOUND BETTER WORK IN TERMS OF A SLEEPING CARPORTER THAN THEY COULD EVEN TEACHING, IN TERMS OF WAGE.
SO, HE WAS A GREAT UNION ORGANIZER, HE WAS A GREAT SOCIAL ACTIVIST.
HE WAS A GREAT WRITER.
HE INFLUENCED SO MANY FIGURES, NOT ONLY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., BUT THE GREATRUSTIN, AS WELL, WHO CAME TO WORK WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., ALONG WITH ELLA BAKER, SO, HE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY IMIMPORTANT LEADER, WHO SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN.
BECAUSE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SAID WE'RE HAVING THIS MARCH IN 1963, IS TO FULFILL THE GREAT MAN'S DESIRE IN THE 1940s.
>> PEOPLE DON'T REMEMBER MUCH ANYMORE, DOROTHY HEIGHT, THE WOMAN INVOLVED.
>> RIGHT.
>> TELL ME ABOUT HER AND WHY HAS SHE BEEN SOMEWHAT FORGOTTEN?
>> WELL, THE FIRST REASON SHE'S BEEN FORGOTTEN IS THE HORRIBLE PATE YARD CAN I THAT CONTINUES TO PROCLOUD, EVEN SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS.
YOU KNOW, THE OLD SAYING THAT SUSAN TAYLOR CAME UP, HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE.
OPPRESSED PEOPLE OPPRESS PEOPLE.
THE IRONY, ON THAT GREAT DAY, THE ONLY WOMEN WHO MADE IT TO THE STAGE, ONE OF THEM, AT LEAST, WAS JOSEPHINE BAKER.
DOOR DOROTHY HEIGHT WAS FORBIDDEN AS BEING FEATURED AS A SPEAKER ON THAT GREAT DAY.
BUT WHAT A GREAT LEADER.
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NEGRO WOMEN, WE LIFT AS WE CLIMB STASHGTS ED, STARTED BY MARY McCLOUD BETHUNE, TAKEN OVER BY DOROTHY HEIGHT.
SHE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN WHO WAS A LEADER, AN ACTIVIST, A SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE BEST INTEREST, NOT ONLY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN, BUT OF THE GENERAL PUSH FOR JUSES THE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE.
>> AND I GUESS THE THIRD PERSON, REALLY INVOLVED IN GETTING THIS MARCH ON WASHINGTON GOING WAS BAYARD RUSTIN.
>> RIGHT.
>> AND HE, LIKE A. PHILIP RANDOLPH, A SOCIALIST, SO, IT'S A MARCH ABOUT THE ECONOMY, NOT JUST ABOUT CIVIL RIGHTS.
>> RIGHT.
THEY SAW EARLY ON THAT ECONOMIC INEQUALITY WAS THE PREDICATE FOR SO MUCH OF THE OPPRESSION THAT AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE FACED.
AND WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
JUSTLY SO GOT CREDIT IN HIS LATER YEARS FOR PIVOTING FROM CIVIL RIGHTS TO ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, BAYARD RUSTIN HAD BEEN ON THAT THEME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
HE WAS A BLACK GAY MAN, AS OPEN AS YOU COULD BE BACK IN THOSE DAYS, THIS GREAT MAN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANIZING THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
A GREAT SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADER.
A MAN WHO WAS A PACIFIST OUT OF A QUAKER TRADITION, AND A MAN WHO UNDERSTAND THE COMPLICATED AND NUANCED PERSPECTIVE OF PRACTICAL POLITICS.
>> THE NONVIOLENT PART OF THAT, THE FACT THAT IT WAS NONVIOLENT WAS WHAT MADE IT TO PERSUASIVE.
>> RIGHT.
>> WHAT WERE THE DEBATES, THOUGH, BEFOREHAND, ABOUT HOW MUCH IT SHOULD EMPHASIZE NONVIOLENT MEANS?
>> YEAH, SO, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SPEAK TO WALTER ISAACSON.
PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THERE WERE TREMENDOUS DEBATES.
FIRST OF ALL, JOHN LEWIS, YES, THAT AUGUST POLITICIAN, THAT -- THAT DEAN OF BLACK AMERICAN POLITICIANS AFTER JOHN CONYERS, THE CONSCIENCE OF CONGRESS, WELL, HE WAS RIGHTING A SPEECH AT 23 YEARS OLD, LIKE SHERMAN MARCHED THROUGH THE SOUTH, WE'RE GOING TO TEAR THROUGH -- OH, OH, JOHN, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO CALM THAT DOWN.
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON WAS ASKED TO HELP HIM REWRITE IT IN A WAY THAT WOULD BE PALATABLE TO THE AUDIENCE WATCHING.
YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE GREAT FIGURES IN AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LIFE, SOME ARCHBISHOP SAID, I'M NOT GOING TO PARTICIPATE IS JOHN LEWIS' SPEECH GOES ON, THEY'RE ARGUING BEHIND THE SCENES.
THERE WERE SNIPERS PLACED ATOP THE BUILDINGS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, JUST IN CASE THINGS GOT OUT OF HAND.
AND THE NEGRO FOLK GATHERED THERE WOULD BE SOMEHOW BE-LIDGE RANT.
NONE OF THAT WAS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND THE OTHER LEADERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WERE DEEPLY INVESTED IN MAKING SURE NONVIOLENCE WAS A TACTIC OF SOCIAL CHANGE, BUT A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO LIFE.
THE ONLY VIOLENCE WE HAVE USUALLY HAD TO WORRY ABOUT ARE WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND REDEMPTIONISTS WHO REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMANITY OF BLACK PEOPLE.
>> IF YOU LOOK AT THE PROGRAM FOR THAT MARCH, THEY HAVE A SECTION IN THE PROGRAM CALLED "A TRIBUTE TO NEGRO WOMEN," AND THEY SORT OF GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO ROSA PARKS, BUT NONE OF THEM WERE ALLOWED TO SPEAK.
WHAT DO THEY FEEL ABOUT THAT?
>> I MEAN, THEN, THE WOMEN WERE CHAMPING AT THE BIT, CHAFING, OF COURSE, BUT THE CRUEL -- BY THE CRUEL OPPORTUNITY, IN A MARCH FOR JUSTICE, THAT WE ARE BEING UNJUST TO BLACK WOMEN.
THAT THEY MUST SEEK THEIR LEVEL, THEY MUST STAY IN THEIR PLACE.
AND MANY OF THOSE WOMEN WERE IRATE.
EVEN CORETTA SCOTT KING, WHEN SHE FOUGHT WITH HIM ABOUT HER ROLE AS A CIVIL AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST, BECAUSE CORETTA SCOTT KING WAS FAR AHEAD OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
WHEN IT CAME TO INTERNATIONAL ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND THE WAR IN VIETNAM.
AND PEACEFUL PROTESTS AGAINST THAT.
SO, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
HIMSELF OWED A DEBT TO HIS OWN WIFE, BUT YET, THESE WOMEN WERE DENIED OPPORTUNITIES, THEY WERE BITTER, IN SOME INSTANCES, ABOUT THEM, THEY WERE RIGHTFULLY OUTRAGED AT THE LIMIT, BUT THEY WERE SUCH GOOD CITIZENS THAT THEY WERE INTERESTED IN THE BROADER APPEAL TO ISSUES OF JUSTICE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, THOSE KINDS OF EXPERIENCES WERE THE SEABED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT THAT CAME RIGHT UPON THE HEELS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE IN THE 1960s.
>> THE "I HAVE A DREAM" RIFF WAS SOMETHING, WE LEARNED MORE ABOUT IT, WAS SAID BEFORE THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, KING DELIVERS IT IN DETROIT, YOUR BELOVED DETROIT.
>> RIGHT.
>> I THINK ALSO IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, I READ, HE DID A VERSION OF THAT SPEECH.
WAS HE REALLY PLANNING TO ALSO DO IT IN WASHINGTON?
AND IS THAT THE KEY PART OF THE SPEECH FOR YOU?
>> SO, THE POINT IS THAT HE TRIED IT OUT BEFORE.
GUESS WHERE HE HEARD IT?
THE GREAT PRATHEA HALL WAS IN A CHURCH IN ALBANY, GEORGIA, PRAYING ONE NIGHT, SAYING, "AND I HAVE A DREAM" AND KING, LIKE ANY GREAT BAPTIST PREACHER WITH A GREAT EAR, SAID, NOW I'M GOING TO USE THAT ONE DAY, I DON'T KNOW WHERE.
SO THE POINT IS, KING HEARING HALL USING IT, AND THEN SHE WENT ON -- SHE WAS AN ACTIVIST, BUT SHE WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST PEACHERS IN AMERICA.
AND A PASS ON THE IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, BUT KING HEARS THAT FROM HER, SNATCHES THAT PHRASE FROM HER, SAMPLES THAT WORD FROM HER.
ALL RIGHT, MAYBE RIPS IT OFF FROM HER.
AND THEN BEGINS TO USE IT.
YES, HE USED IT IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, HE USED IT IN OTHER PLACES.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE WRITTEN SPEECH, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING NECESSARILY THAT KING WAS GOING TO DEPLOY THAT DAY.
BUT AS YOU SAID BEFORE, IT IS TRUE, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BEGINS THAT SPEECH READING IN A WAY THAT HIS BEST ORATORIES IS NEVER WHEN HE READS.
FIVE SCORE YEARS AGO, GREAT AMERICAN WHOSE SYMBOLIC SHADOW WE STAND TODAY, SIGNED THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
THAT'S BEAUTIFUL, IT'S NOT KING AT HIS BEST.
BUT YES, HE FEELS AT SOME POINT, I HAVE TO PUT THIS PAPER DOWN AND I HAVE TO FREESTYLE.
I'M JOHN COME TRAIN, LISTENING TO THE STYLE OF MILES DAVIS, BUT I HAVE TO GIVE MY OWN INFLECTION HERE, SO, I THINK AT THAT POINT, THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT KING GOES OFF AND DELIVERS ONE OF THE GREATEST SPEECHES IN AMERICAN ORATORICAL HISTORY, BECAUSE HE PRACTICED IT IN HIS SOUL AND HIS MIND, NOT QUITE IN THAT SAME WAY.
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO DETROIT, IT'S NOT THE -- THEY ARE NOT THE SAME WORDS, SO, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE IMPROVISATIONAL CHARACTER OF KING, BUT IMPROVISATION IS BUILT UPON THINKING AHEAD, ABOUT WHAT YOU MIGHT DO.
>> YOU SAY THAT THE SPEECH BEGINS SO FAMOUSLY, IN THE SHADOW OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL OF HIM SAYING FIVE SCORE YEARS AGO, JUST ECHOING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
>> RIGHT.
>> THAT IT WAS SYMBOLIC, BUT THE NEXT SENTENCE HE SAYS SEEMS TO BE THE CORE OF THE SPEECH, IN WHICH HE SAYS, BUT 100 YEARS LATER, THE NEGRO IS STILL NOT FREE.
>> YES.
IT WAS POWERFUL.
100 YEARS LATER, THE NEGRO STILL IS NOT FREE.
IMMEDIATELY, YOU TALK ABOUT THE SHACKLES, HE SAID, LOOK, WE'RE MAROONED ON A TINY ISLAND OF POVERTY IN THE MIDST OF A VAST OCEAN OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY.
AND HE SAYS, REVOLT WILL CONTINUE IN AMERICA UNTIL THE FOUNDATIONS, RIGHT, THE FOUNDATIONS OF REVOLT WILL CONTINUE TO SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICA, UNTIL AMERICA IS FREE.
THAT'S REVOLUTIONARY.
HE BEGINS TO TALK ABOUT POLICE BRUTALITY, HE TALKS ABOUT THE MILL TAN SI IN AMERICA.
THAT SPEECH, EVEN THOUGH WAS BEING CALM, WAS QUITE REVOLUTIONARY FOR ITS TIME.
AND, YES, HE ARTICULATED FOR AMERICA THE DEMANDS OF BLACK PEOPLE.
AND THEN HE SAID, WE'VE GOT A CHECK, BUT THE CHECK CAME BACK RETURNED TO US INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.
WE HAVE COME TO THE NATION'S CAPITOL TO CASH A CHECK.
REPARATION.
WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE GREAT VAULT OF DEMOCRACY IS EMPTY.
THAT IS POWERFUL RHETORIC THAT HAS APPLICATION TODAY, AS WE TALK ABOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REPARATIONS IN OUR OWN TIME.
>> 60 YEARS LATER, WEALTH INEQUALITY IN AMERICA IS STILL AS GREAT, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEALTH INEQUALITY OF BLACK AND WHITE.
WHAT DOES THAT SAY TO YOU?
>> IT TALKS ABOUT THE STUNNING ABILITY OF AMERICA TO ABSORB PROTEST AND TO REARTICULATE IT AS THE BASIS OF AMERICAN PRACTICE, WHILE DENYING IT.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE HYPOCRISY OF AMERICAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT.
OH, YES, WE'RE SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPENED, IT'S MOTHERABLE, IT'S TERRIBLE, EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, WE HAVE EPISODES OF RECKONING, BUT MORE THAN LIKELY, WE HAVE THE GOVERNOR RON DeSANTISES OF THE WORLD WHO WANT TO WHITEWASH HISTORY.
RON DeSANTIS ISN'T THE FIRST PERSON.
RIGHT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, WHEN LINCOLN WAS DEAD AND JOHNSON WAS IN OFFICE, AND THE SOUTH WAS SUPPOSED TO PAY, ALL OF THEM GOT PARDONS.
AND THEY WERE PARDONED NOT FOR THE SIN OF SLAVERY, THEY WERE PARDONED FOR TAKING ACTION AGAINST THE UNION.
AND ALL OF THE GREAT ENSLAVERS WERE FORGIVEN WITHOUT RECKONING WITH THEIR GREAT SIN.
SO, THE BEST ROUTE TO RECONSTRUCTING AMERICA, FOR THOSE WHITE FOLK, WAS TO ERASE MEMORY OF RACIAL FRACTURE IN HISTORY.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, THAT HAS CONTINUED TO THIS DAY.
WE'VE DENIED THE SYSTEMIC BASIS OF INEQUALITY, THE BANKS ARE STILL MESSED UP WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING BLACK PEOPLE LOANS, THE HOUSING CRISIS UNDERSCORES THE DEGREE TO WHICH THERE IS STILL RAMPANT SEGREGATION THERE.
WHEN WE LOOK AT EDUCATION, THE TWO-TIER, THREE-TIER SYSTEM.
WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS THE BOARD, AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE AS A RESULT OF SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES THAT ARE DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IN AMERICAN POLITICAL LIFE.
>> AND WE SEEM TO BE SEEING A BACKLASH, ESPECIALLY AGAINST THINGS, PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO SAY, IT WAS SYSTEMIC, OR SYSTEMIC RACISM, BACKLASH THAT COMES A FEW YEARS AFTER THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MARCHES.
WHY ARE WE GOING THROUGH THIS BACKLASH, AND IS IT SOMETHING THAT IS, LIKE, A PENDULUM, IT WILL SWING BACK?
>> IT WILL.
IT TAKES A LOT OF HOPE TO BELIEVE THAT, BECAUSE IT'S SO BITTER.
THE MERCHANTS OF AMNESIA ARE SO POWERFUL.
WE LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE.
WE'RE CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM OF AMNESIA.
I'M TRYING TO GET US TO BECOME CITIZENS, AND AS YOU ARE SO BRILLIANTLY, TRYING TO GET US TO BECOME CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM OF MEMORY.
BARBRA STREISAND SUPPLIES THE WORDS, IT'S SO PAINFUL WE CHOOSE TO FORGET.
THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA WANTS TO BAN THE BOOKS ABOUT THE TRUTH OF HOW AMERICA GOT WHERE IT IS.
AND THE PROBLEM IS LUNNINGING THE PAST TO THE PRESENT.
YOU CAN TALK ABOUT SLAVERY AS A SKILL SET DEVELOPER FOR BLACK PEOPLE, BUT YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT IT HAD AN IMPACT UPON CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL STRUGGLE.
SO, THIS IS A PREDICTABLE RESPONSE.
BUT THE GREAT HOWARD THURMOND SAID, NEVER REDUCE YOUR DREAMS TO YOUR PRESENT EVENT.
YOU ARE EITHER GOING TO BE A PRISONER OF AN EVENT, OR A PRISONER OF HOPE.
HE SAID, I CHOOSE TO BE A PRISONER OF HOPE, AND I ECHO THE GREAT HOWARD THURMOND.
>> MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
>> SUCH A POWERFUL INVOCATION AGAINST HISTORICAL AMNESIA.
AND FINALLY TONIGHT, CELEBRATING CARIBBEAN CULTURE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
THOUSANDS OF PERFORMERS AND FLOATS PARADED THROUGH THE STREETS OF WEST LONDON FOR THE ICONIC NOTING HILL CARNIVAL.
THE SECOND-LARGEST STREET PARTY AFTER RIO.
THIS YEAR, THE FESTIVITIES ARE CELEBRATING TWO ANNIVERSARIES.
50 YEARS AGO, ORGANIZERS INTRODUCED SOUND SYSTEMS AND THE MASK BANS, TRANSFORMING IT INTO THE LARGE SCALE EVENT THAT'S SEEN TODAY.
AND THE CARNIVAL THIS YEAR PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE HUNDREDS OF CARIBBEAN MIGRANTS WHO WERE BROUGHT OVER TO BRITAIN ON THE SHIP "EMPIRE WIND RUST" 75 YEARS AGO TO HELP REBUILD AFTER WORLD WAR II.
AND YET, NEVER RECEIVED THEIR PROPER DUE.
THIS FESTIVAL IS FOR ALL AGES AND ALL CULTURES TO COME TOGETHER AND CELEBRATE.
THAT'S IT FOR NOW.
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.
AND GOOD-BYE FROM ODESA, IN UKRAINE.
♪♪
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