Research on that concern . That is always in something really pressing to me to know where i am from in terms of africa. I know it is difficult because of the fact that the history of being inflated, and dispersed, children and adults. And suc but have many a few historians ever addressed that concern . I think we will let him answer that one. Let an for 35 years come assisted researchers in the 70 were working on family history. Family history is a big part of what the archives staff assist teachers with pa if you have been asked for help, and ask fot help. You will find the records of slave people appeared he got to realize youve got to search the wave records. Youve got to search the deep search the deeds, the wheels. And very honestly, sometimes they are not here. Es they the family got rid of the plantation records. It always amazes me when i see a pilgrimage home, a lot of times the family home, they still have the plantation records on display in the pilgrimage home. They are not available for youy to research and not home. A lot of times the family took the records. A lot of times the family destroy the record. Taking up space in their new modern home. Sometimes the records were truly not available. La if you can identify a possibility of my family, the records might have found a way and pa what i found is when i was doing when i went to the t archives, there was so much more that you could actually research. I got as far as unfortunately they named the people who in the same same category as the data animals. But they didnt go so far as naming those plantation owners and then from there, the question may the question i had was where those people came from prior to that, but they put a federal seal upon those records. My question is, dont you think people deserve to know where t they are actually originally from . The answer is yes they do. The records must exist for that possibility. To find out where you are from coming to dna testing would help without for africanamericans in a big way. But again, that is a deal i havent pursued. I would deal with paper records myself. I think on that note we need it cut it off. We are getting. Thank you for comment and thank you to all of our panelists for the discussion. [applause] sound nine well, hi there. Welcome. I am treating 10. Today the meeting, Networking Organization was founded back in 1983. 33 years ago. Is a nonprofit, professionals have threefold mashers. One career, we offer seminars and workshops on career transition and possible professional development to community. We help members build a cpt business relationships and after work mixers and three, culture. We program out there appearances like to name. When we are happy to welcome that, our professionals favorite. For 10 years, he directed movie features and produce news stories and us weekly. Hes connecting q a set dozens of newsmakers and has provided commentary on cnn, msnbc, good morning america, today show. As the media manager and family equality count low, last years Marriage Equality argument that the Supreme Court. Please spoke on bradley jacob. Cloud my out the miami herald, she was a member of the pulitzer prizewinning investigative reporting team. At the Washington Post, shes reported on the failure of local groups to provide services to people with aids. Her investigative reporting has led to changes in federal law regarding the Housing Program for the poor. Choose the distinguished coauthor of love wins. Please welcome him debbie cenziper. [applause] Foreign Policy magazine has named him one of the global thinkers. Out magazine included hand and its annual power 100. Hes been named plaintiff in last years Supreme Court, Marriage Equality case. He became the face of the movement and the legal groundbreaker and he is the coauthor of love wins, ithacas National Lunch we celebrate tonight. Please spoke on jim obergefell. [applause] [inaudible] the mayor and possibly the governor wont be here. From here, down there. And they know that what happens in landover, peter and their inner conversation. I dont want to be afraid it, but i do want to start out talking about this and that journey together. Lets begin, shall we . [inaudible] [laughter] one of the first things that comes up is that up is that they give our president struggling to pronounce her last name. You werent there. I [inaudible] i got that phone call and heard everything about it. He avoided propounding her last name we are doing this one instead. So how did it feel . Lets talk about that phone call. When did you know youre going to be getting that call . At some point that day, someone said that given a couple phone numbers out in case anyone wants to call you. That was all they had. With the implication that it might be someone important . For me, it came as a surprise, but anything couldve happened in that moment than it would have been a surprise because i was just overwhelmed and in the Small Network couldnt process what was going on. It couldve been any and i would have been a maze. It was the president. For me, im really thrilled cnn has been to be there. After i spoke with the president , every single interview after that committed very first question was what did the president say, what did you say . Ill tell you. I have a transcript right here. He said im really proud of you. Your leadership has changed the country. Youre bringing up lasting change. It couldnt be more proud of you and your husband he said to the crowd twice. And then you said, thank you, mr. President. It was like nothing you have returned to. When people i say that, i know idea, no memory whatsoever what the president said or what i said. In fact, i was nervous. I wandered over and over, did i form complete sentences . Was that polite, with a respectful . To be able to watch that was one of those moments as i can relax now because at least they didnt make a fool of myself. That was not the first time he had spoken with the president. He talked to them earlier that week and a pride celebration in the white house. Correct. At the opportunity to meet him earlier that week for this reception. Didnt he give you some kind of clue is going to happen . Well, what i remember him saying is we are all looking forward to some positive news are hoping for a positive news this week. Something along those lines. I dont know that he had any clue. I dont think he knew. But he was hopeful and that gave me hope. I was really wonderful. He is always described yourself as an accidental actor. So take us back and just there to quickly summarize a few good how your name ended up as the lead plaintiff here. Well, back in 2013, june june 26th of this year when the winthrop decision was announced, john, my partner of over 20 years at that point died of als and he was bedridden. When the decision was announced, simply landover, 10 and kissed him and said lets get married. Luckily he said yes. We then had to go through the painful process of how to do that, but we made it happen. They came home from maryland where they got rid on a tarmac and we got back to cincinnati and thats all we wanted to do about johns remaining days as husband and husband. We had no other plan. By virtue of friend, telling our story, the civil rights attorney pledged. And our first conversation, he did something that changed the course of our life, which has turned into the change in our country. What plan had happened and they filed suit in the state of ohio in federal court and we want. Later we were combined with five other cases from three other states than we lost in the Appeals Court and we filed with the Supreme Court and the question was how did it become known . It isnt anything complicated or mythical or special. Simply by virtue of timing. The name it on that basis case number. We had the lowest case number. Where the lion share and how did they feel having their name attached to this legendary, and now iconic . I am the baby of six and all of my siblings have nieces and nephews other than one who lives here in, all of my nieces and nephews and siblings are in Northern Ohio where he grew up. Over and over they tell me, they say jim, we cant believe this is a obergefell who is doing this, who is out there in front of people and speak in and doing what youve done. No other obergefell could have done this. They are incredibly proud and happy for me and they were completely supportive of john and me from the very moment john came into my life. They are just thrilled and happy and glad that it is not them in the limelight. You dont strike me as a limelight loving person. You are an i. T. Professional. Was there ever a moment where you are like i dont know that i want all this. I dont know that i want my name in the paper. I dont know that i want to beat this. Well, i never think of myself as an icon, so i never thought of it that point. I know it would initially filed suit there was some trepidation that our faces, our names, the video of us would be in the news and around the country. Theres always some trepidation without because we were public people. We were very private. Ive never wanted to be someone recognize. Some of the people we stopped on the street. Over the past year as it happens over and over. Street corners here to walking in the square and airport. All across the country, people see me. They recognize they dont stop me. Even though it is something i wanted, i wouldnt trade it for anything because they stop made simply to say thank you, to shake my hand, tatami stories, to share photos, to have it when they cant take of anything else to do. So many of those interactions result those interactions resulting tears in every every single time that happened, it is the best payback for any loss of anonymity that i have given by sasser. I would do it all again just knowing those personal interactions are the gift that i get every single day. Thank you. [applause] take us back to that june last year because i heard that you went to the Supreme Court every day pretty much thinking that it might be the day. So tell us a little bit about that. Wendy juking inklings, not from president obama, but it may be happening on the 26th. So i was told by several people come you really should start showing up in d. C. In mid june. This a big decision in typically they hold off on those decisions until the end of the term. Start showing up to june just to be there. I was in d. C. For every decision day. At that point we all thought well, monday, june 29th because they had only decision based on mondays. Without monday, june 29th, likelihood of a happening. The week of the 22nd i was there on monday and that was the day they then announced we are going to release decisions later this week on thursday and then they also added friday. That was when we all started to say friday, june 26th. That is a somewhat important date for the movement. We all started thinking it is going to be on friday. So i got to the Supreme Court, took my place in line. I was just in the public line with 50 or 60 other people they are to in the courtroom and the atmosphere that morning was vastly different than any other morning. It was lighter. It was the loser. It was happier. I think it was because most of us have not laughed that june june 26, we think this is a sign. People seemed happier and more upbeat. Then the other amazing game, every time ive been in court understanding of the public line when they hand out tickets for the public spec leaders, every time weve been in line with their decision days, the tickets were bright orange. Thats all that they handed out the tickets. We are still just chatting and i looked down at the ticket and i noticed something nobody else had remarked time. I havent taken advantage he noticed Something Different . The tickets that day were lavender. What better sign. They have been orange every single other time. May be assigned. Okay, so were you inside . I was inside. After seeing the mind, the lettuce in the courthouse where you just have to kill some time standing in line somewhere. Then we entered the courtroom and the proceedings started in the chief justice said, Justice Kennedy will read the first decision. They read the case number and item that finally been arrested the day before. When the case number came out, jumped in my seat. I know i squeaked. I made some kind of noise. I was sitting between friends and i grabbed their hands. Im happy to report they still have all of their fingers. Justice kennedy started to read his decision. My first reaction was we wanted. Well, i think we gave. He read some more. Well, im not really positive yet. And then it sunk in that we did actually win and i just burst into tears. All around the courtroom you could hear and see people crying. There was this amazing alike a feeling of joy and happiness. For me, there was this wonderful moment of perhaps for the first time in my adult life as being honest with myself about who i am and honest with others in that part of my life, the first time i felt truly like an american, to hear a Supreme Court justice say, you know why it, john and jim, joe and rob, they are here. Theyre wonderful son, cooper. Kelley and kelley, pam end quote you all do matter. Your relationships matter. Your children matter. I felt like part of we the people. I felt more unamerican than that moment than i ever have my whole life. [applause] that moment back, the Justice Kennedy referred to you in his writing. Maybe it is more confining marriage birding body size date is a sacrifice and family. And for many Marital Union to something greater than what they were. Some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate marriage embodies love that they endure that was unquestionably do. The canosa David Michener he joined the case in ohio. He and his husband had been together for years. They have three adopted children and they had married earlier this summer and his husband died unexpectedly. So there was another widower of bear with me as part of this fight to stay our husbands death certificates deserve to be accurate. The wonderful. Lets talk about what happened then. There were crowds. Describe babbling. I was there. Our attorney was fair. But this drama and argues the case in court, they were there. There were other plaintiffs they appeared we all gathered in the hallway. We were getting to exit the building and in my mind i am picturing all those landmark cases, when you see this image of the plaintiff for the plaintiffs walking down the steps. This iconic photos. It may mind and thinking i get to do this. This is really going to happen. Suddenly Obvious Police officers went running up the building and down the front steps, but no one said anything. We got ourselves together and started heading that way. Another officer said im sorry you cant exit that way. You have to exit out the side of the building. I felt disappointed. I thought i dont want to watch down the stairs. In that moment i realized i felt kind of selfish thinking that, but it was just one of those images, that kind of go with that building and with these cases. We exited the side of the building and the reason we had to come in the crowded pushed her word past the barricades. There is such a sense of celebration that they appeared people push their way forward. They didnt want us talking down the steps, so we exited the building and ended up on the sidewalk and then we walked up onto the class and our attorney and night, leading the group and we are going through the crowd and i didnt even realize. Debbie is the one who pointed it out because she was there. She said did you realize as you let the group of plaintiffs and attorneys to that crowd, they split before you like the red sea. That is exactly how the west. I think back and i can see it. I just didnt realize it at the moment. Walking through that crowd again, a palpable sense of joy, to see the tears and the smiles on the faces of other people is one of the most beautiful moment of my life. I realized in that moment, i find im glad it didnt go down as that because maybe i wouldnt have had this experience and this experience is better because then the minute of all these people. The 30 plus plaintiffs than i did this for everyone. And i got to celebrate with everyone. I will never, ever feel bad about not having that iconic photo. I would give that would give that back for that it is over and over. So lets just had to debbie for a minute or two because they want to catch everyone up. You have been working with jim and following gym for several before the Marriage Equality decision. Writing the book along. I like millions of people read about jims story of johns story in the Washington Post wire work as an investigative reporter. I knew i wanted to tell the story. I knew i wanted to write this book, so i immediately took an unpaid leave of absence from a job at the Washington Post and the affidavit and work towards a Supreme Court decision in june. Whichever way it went, i knew this was the story of wanted to tell. Clarify you guys know each other because you actually go but 20 years, right . John and jim r. At my wedding 25 years ago and i remember that like it was yesterday. We were in touch often on through the years through family. At last told john that a family event in 2011 for it before he was diagnosed with als. Were you related john through marriage . Through marriage, yes. When he typed in an interview that how you called him on the phone and said i had this agent interested in writing the book. Great. I dont know how you got his phone number. We were in touch often on. John and jim were in ohio and i lived in different states working for different newspapers. Every journalist wants to write for investigation to investigation. Paragraph lots of stories about government corruption and fraud and bad people doing bad things that this is a completely different game. This is a story about love and commitment of family and i was so moved by it but i did this was the book i wanted to write. It is the first book. This story read about you that i thought it was sure if i was going to mention it. I thought it was very humid. That friday, june 26th, an amazing mix. As he talked about seeing all the smiling faces. Then he went to the airport and back and hatcher playing delayed. What happened there . After the decision, and he did quite a few more interviews and then i went t