[applause] mayor coleman let me just say one quick thing about thurgood, how important he was to our country, for africanamericans, for those who wanted to go to law school africanamericans who wanted to go to law school, i was a part of that generation who looked up to him, believed in him, who was inspired by him. That i too someday could go to law school and i could someday become a lawyer. There is a whole generation of people just like me who have gone on to do that because of the bravery and the courage of Thurgood Marshall. So tonight, we are here gathered here this evening and i have view this really has the intersection of history and the future. What to i mean by that . The intersection of history and the future . Well, we are in Lincoln Theater. In this theater, this was the only place where black folks could come and get entertained in a theater because they couldnt go downtown. They would come right here. And this theater was nearly demolished. A wrecking ball almost tore it down. And we saved it, renovated it and it is now one of the jewels of the city of columbus. History tonight. [applause] mayor coleman the intersection of our future of arts and culture in the black community, the revalidation, the of this king Lincoln District in the process. You history in the future, the intersection, will hagood who was raised in columbus, went to east high school, called himself playing basketball, everything he learned in life, he learned it here in the city of columbus. [applause] mayor coleman his values, his skill, his inspiration. In fact, his first writing job was for the column post. It was located right around the corner. In this very neighborhood. Will hagood never forgot about our city, even though he has gone on to win awards, written multiple books, great books. One of his books turned into a movie, the butler. Someone who cares deeply about his past, deeply about the city columbus. And now he is one of the, if not the premier Great American biographer in our country. Someone we are proud of in the city of columbus. [applause] mayor coleman wil hagood someone needs to tell the stories of our people. Or they will be lost. And he does it in an eloquent way. In a way that is exciting and moving and inspiring for the future. For our children. I say we could never plan ahead unless we understand from where we come, and wil hagood has been that person that has explained where we come from, so that we can march onto the future and he has many more stories to tell. History and our future intersecting here tonight at Lincoln Theater. Thurgood marshall. Thurgood marshall visited columbus many times. We did some research on him. It was somewhere between 9 and 13, 14 times he visited columbus. It goes all the way back to 1938. When he first came columbus, first recorded time he came to columbus, he may have come before that. But in 1938, he came to columbus, five years after he graduated from harvard law school. He came to our city to advocate, and to participate, to speak and many times thereafter, often at the naacp annual meeting in the city of columbus. He probably stayed at st. Clair hotel. Which is right around the corner on garfield. Because back in those days, black folks could not stay at the Hotels Downtown like they couldnt go to the theaters downtown. So they came to this area of our community. The harlem of the midwest. And i can envision thurgood inand i can envision Thurgood Marshall walking up and down the streets of mount vernon avenue, going to our churches, walking up and down the streets of long street, i can envision Thurgood Marshall being in this theater at some point in time. Because everyone came to this theater on long street during that period of time. So, this is an intersection between history and our future. And Thurgood Marshall helped set the path for the future of our country in many ways. He helped set the path for all of us here tonight, to enjoy the fruits of democracy and the greatness of our constitution. He was a true american that did so many good things to lift up our nation. Lincoln theater, wil haygood, marshall, all the one time, in one place in the city of columbus. How fitting. [applause] mayor coleman that the son of columbus, he is our son, picks his city in this theater, where Thurgood Marshall probably spent time on the streets of long street and mount vernon avenue. Tonight, you are going to hear about the lowdown with the showdown. [laughter] mayor coleman thank you. [applause] larry the one thing i forgot to tell you is that i spent 16 years as president of the king arts complex and now i have spent six years as chairman of this board and its great to have the two institutions collaborate and this is first of many to come. It is my distinct honor and pleasure to give you a brief overview of the wil hagood. Although he needs no introduction to this audience. He has authored seven nonfiction books, including a trilogy of biographies of iconic 20th century figures hailed as culturally important by the Los Angeles Times the king of the cats, the life and times of Adam Clayton Powell junior, a New York Times notable book of the year. The second book of great noteworthy, in black and white. The life of sammy davis junior. A multiple award winner and the next book was called sweet thunder, the life and times of Sugar Ray Robinson, named as a best book of the year by forbes. His other books are two of the river, about a 2500mile journey down the mississippi river, and the family memoir of columbus, a family memoir the story the butler needs no induction. A story of eugene allen, a white house butler who served eight president s, turned into a blockbuster movie. Mr. Hagoods career has been notable for 17 years he was a national and Foreign Correspondent for the boston globe. In 1990, he covered the civil war in somalia and was taken hostage by the rebels. He was eventually released with the aid of pakistani and troops. On another foreign correspondence he found himself standing outside south africa, the South African prison where Freedom FighterNelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment. Littleknown fact, he was one of the few american journalists to report from behind the berlin wall. Mr. Haygood has been a John Simon Guggenheim fellow and a National Endowment for the humanities fellow. These are two of the highest awards bestowed upon an author. He has been called a cultural historian. He has explored the social and dynamics of this country as the as few writers have. The works of mr. Haygood come to life as he says his words are meant to engage in a conversation or going back to the Old School Way of life, simply lets wrap. He says that stands for revitalization of the apathetic public and i would agree. That is what he says motivates him, revitalizes him and gives him the insight to write these meaningful historical journeys. As mr. Haygood says, his subjects must be inspiring, and by that he means they are welcome at his dining room table for a sunday dinner. He wants to be able to talk with them and thats how he chooses his subjects. His book, king of the cats, tells about this harlem congressmans rise to power and fame. It reveals one of the most effective legislative persons in the history of congress. Adam Clayton Powell junior like Thurgood Marshall formed a bond with Lyndon Johnson, that moved major legislation through the house like no other. King of the cats is historically significant. Adam Clayton Powell crossed paths with a Thurgood Marshall and they occasionally communicated. They had a common bond in their interests and they were aligned. This is another one of those journeys that wil haygood takes us to better grasp the significance of a historic figure who happens to be africanamerican. In black and white the life sammy davis junior we learn that sammy davis junior was a fierce dedicated passionate civil rights advocate. He coordinated and pulled together both black and white entertainers to assist Martin Luther king in the civil rights movement. We witnessed the struggle that sammy went through in his conversion of his religion. We get an insight seat to his interaction with the rat pack, Frank Sinatra and company. We are a witness to history when sammy places a kiss on Richard Nixon and his career is forever diminished. The book also tells us that in the Richard Nixon, john kennedy race for president , it was clear that upon the history nixon was more deserving of the black vote than kennedy. We witnessed firsthand that no entertainer had the skills of sammy davis junior. There is a scene where he plays every instrument and orchestra and we all know about his ability to sing and dance. Sweet thunder the life and times of Sugar Ray Robinson. Sugar ray robinson, pound for pound, may be the best prizefighter the world has ever seen. That would include mohamed ali. Wil will tell us that sugar ray was not just a fighter, he was a harlem renaissance man. He loved the arts, that included literature, dance, song and arts. Sugar ray interacted with all of the great entertainments and artist during the harlem renaissance. This cat was hip and was cool and will told us about it. We get to see sugar ray in the life that no other author could have brought to life. Again, wil it resurrected an icon. The story of eugene allen, the butler, who served eight president s who turned into a very successful blockbuster movie. Again, wil brings to life someone who was invisible to america. Wil gives us the dignity, the grace, the discipline and hard work of an individual who believed in the american dream. He brings to life an individual who is present, but invisible during critical times in our American History over 8 president s. Only wil had the insight to give us this perspective in the cultural competence to do so in such a magnificent way. Showdown Thurgood Marshall brought the constitution to life. He said, find the rules. I will live by the rules and i will be to you and beat you at your own game. He had been recently nominated for the prestigious 2016 Andrew Carnegie medal for excellence in nonfiction. [applause] larry not that the trade magazines and technical journals are the endall, but wil has received for showdown four stars, they are from journals and magazines across this prestigious literary world. Star reviews from publishers weekly, kirkus review, the Library Journal and booked list. The atlantic magazine said it best, wil haygood has rehabilitated Thurgood Marshall with showdown. His decision to focus on marshalls confirmation hearing proves ingenuous. We at the Lincoln Theater conducted him as our first inductee into our walk of fame. Boy, were we smart. Wil also did our first fundraiser for the lincoln with the publication of the sammy davis junior book. Patrick laszewski in the library, we met, i cant remember at the office about four or five years ago, i do recall. But i think what the library has done in addition to this one city, one book and bringing the Community Together is extraordinary. Wil and i were talking about family members and who traditionally have not read and each of us gave our brother a copy of showdown. Each of our brothers just engaged the book like nothing else. And we had a conversation, different from any other we have had before. This is the magic that wil haygood has provided for this community, this state and this nation, and i think when the world looks at america and it says, this is the journey that we went through to arrive at the crossroads we are today, this book brings us to a place that i think we can engage in a discussion about race where no other had before. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you mr. Wil haygood. Set back and relax and enjoy the show. Thank you one million times over. [applause] [applause] wil for some reason, the older i get the less i mind people saying extravagant, beautiful lovely things about me. [laughter] wil i find that somewhat peculiar. Im going to have more to say about larry james in a moment. When i was growing up in this neighborhood, going to munro Junior High School right down the street, me my sister would walk to school together. Those were the days when everyone had a transistor radio. You could hold it up to your ear and listen or put it in your pockets. There was a very catchy tune from those days that i remember. It started out with spoken verse and then it went into song. And it starts like this. Hey man, i hear you pretty good on your feet. Well, dont you know theres a dance down on market street. [singing] hey, hey, theres going to be a showdown. Showdown. And i have been humming that a lot. [laughter] wil even if i did leave my band back in dc. An evening like this wouldnt be possible without a Great Coalition coming together, organizations across the city have bonded and merged to make this night possible and to bring a native son home. Im very mindful that great people, great organizations are represented here tonight starting with kappa and bill connor, Susan Bradford man, she is wearing a dazzling dress. I took note of that. [laughter] wil of the Lincoln Theater, Dimitri Neely of the king art complex, the columbus public library, and of course the mayors office. I cannot cite everybody individually, but there are some people here who i would like to acknowledge. I will say a Little Something about you and then you can stand up. Some of you know that i teach at my alma mater, Miami University in oxford, ohio. The lady who signs my paychecks is here, so why wouldnt i introduce her first . [laughter] wil she is the provost of Miami University, phyllis callahan. Stand up. [applause] wil dear friend of mine, used to protect me on these rough streets back in the day, many of you know him as a championship prizefighter, mondello johnson. [applause] wil the Athletic Director of the Ohio State University, eugene smith. I think he is here. [applause] wil one of the great attorneys of this country, alex shumate. [applause] wil guy i used to talk with a lot about sports and life, jerry saunders. [applause] wil last year, i received the Rosetta James foundation award, named after an alabama civil rights pioneer. Shes 90 years young. Rosetta james is here and i would like her to stand up. She is the icon of American Civil Rights movement. [applause] shes up in the balcony. She marched with Martin Luther king jr. [applause] wil i cant tell you how touched i was when she called me and said she was to come. She wants to come. Guy who i grew up with on the north side of town, dear friend of mine, we talked a lot about Thurgood Marshall the past five years, bob miller. [applause] wil i studied at miami under this professor. He was in the civil rights movement. He marched with john lewis, the selma hero. He was also jailed for marching in the movement. Mulmeyer. [applause] wil his wife is here. She has served me some mighty fine meals during my stay thus far in oxford, ohio, sumo meyer. [applause] wil a writer cant dream of a moment like this when their book has been selected in a Citywide Program to be read by everyone at the same time. I will be coming back in a month with a some multiple multiple, multiple what do we used to call those . [indiscernible] wil yeah, multiplechoice questions. [laughter] wil i cant thank the library enough where i used to go on saturday mornings with my . 50. There was never a car in my family, but i could go to tokyo, i could go to paris. I could go to memphis, tennessee. I could go to chicago if i could get myself into the library. The genius behind all that has been pat liszewski. [applause] wil i will be returning to the city i am going on a 24 city book tour and i will be returning to the city october 21, to appear at the Ohio State University. That invitation came from the vice provost of diversity and inclusion at the Ohio State University and her name is sharon davies. [applause] and wil my cousin just living today just flew in today from atlanta, charles nichols. [applause] wil and my two sisters, diane and wanda are here. [applause] wil my very suave brother is here from los angeles, harry haygood. [applause] wil this is a man who i got to know some years back because i wrote a story about him, chief james jackson. [applause] wil i teach media journalism and film at miami. And the chairman of the department played a large role in getting me to leave the war zones in journalism, and he is here, dr. Warren campbell. [applause] wil David Harrison has done a lot in this community with social justice issues. He is president at columbus state college, David Harrison. I think he is h