16th president made it abundantly clear to Young Americans everywhere i say to all those Young Americans that are watching this today on cspan, that they can go forward and achieve whatever it is they want to achieve, because the 16th president of america made that very, very clear. You can be born common and become uncommon. If you have an extraordinary hunger and desire and you are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep getting up off that mat and getting back up on that horse. Last one. Yes, sir. I tell you, its interesting that you would say lincoln. Im wondering, given everything that you said, what you really think, will bring us to the point of action, because i suspect what im suggesting is that it requires lincolnlike leadership, and i say that because the roots of liberalism historically, if you look at prior to world war ii, and as an perch chamberlain coming back and declaring peace forever, only churchill stood up in parliament and said we have today taken the first draft of a bitter cup. We sent people over admiring germany. We sent people our elite thinkers and intellectuals admiring stalin and later mussolini. We brought muslinfully to appear in pictures in hollywood for goodness sake. Only when a catastrophe occurs do we appear to wake up. What is going to be required for us to respond in a meaningful way against the change, the direction of this country and the world . Well, Winston Churchill said to the america he loved that america always does the right thing after exhausting every other option. And de tocqueville said the greatness of america lay in her ability to repair her thoughts, to recognize a trajectory that wasnt good and to recorrect a curve, and i remain wildly optimistic that america can reach the third centennial. I remain wildly optimisticking this Great Republic will be returned to, and i believe america will crush Political Correctness. Im optimistic for a lot of reasons. Im optimistic because im a student of history, and there is a very remarkable boomerang spirit in the american psyche. Im optimistic because when i have a look at even right now in the depths of american despair, the innovation that still exists in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, the backbone and the patriotism and the traditions of Middle America that are still so alive, im optimistic because i have to be. Despair is not only ugly, its unamerican. America has always been about that tomorrow is going to be better than today, and the day after tomorrow is even better than tomorrow, and if you lose that, then we can never do anything. Youre probably right, probably will take a pearl harbor type situation for america to wake up. I sincerely hope not. I sincerely hope it comes before that. But my message to you today is always believe in america. And no matter how hard it is no matter how difficult it appears no matter how unrealistic it seems no, matter what youre told, always believe in america because i believe this is a providential nation. I believe this is a nation unlike any other. And we really need to preserve and it protect it and defend it. Most of all, we need to retake it from the elite that are bullying us and forcing us into conformity. We need to retake america and crush Political Correctness and i encourage all of you to come and see me after the event. Barnes noble are here with advance copies of my book. Im more than happen to personalize and sign this for you. Youve love america and hate Political Correctness, this is the book for you. [applause] we had an opportunity if you want to know about the chairmans council, please ask us. We stood at a place called Little Round Top in gettysburg. When you talk about courage and talk about standing and facing adversity, when you talk about a common man who became uncommon in his valor, colonel Joshua Lawrence chambers, professor at bow dench college of maine. Not a professional military officer, but there he stood in charge of the 20th main regiment and when the 20th 20th alabama fought through and started coming up the hill, he knew he was the last in the line of the army of the potomac and knew his orders were, you cannot retreat, you cannot surrender. Casualties mounted, they ran out of. A mission. The alabamans ready for one last final charge. Colonel Joshua Lawrence chamberlain said the one word never been said in the entire union army up to that point in the civil war. He said bayonets. Theres a moment that will come nor United States of america, standing on a Little Round Top, when the casualties are mounding, when we have run out of ammunition, when we fear that there is no other recourse, cannot retreat, cannot surrender, we have to say that one word that is the embodiment, the spiritual embodiment of the american people, the american citizen, and thats bayonets. Thank you for being here today, and next month we have the former head of the Defense Intelligence agency, lieutenant online michael flynn, on march 31st at the hotel intercontinental, and i think it will be a great session to hear from someone who understands exactly what is going wrong with our intelligence gathering apparatus in the United States of america. God bless you all, good morning, and thank you for being here with us. [applause] youre watching booktv on cspan2, with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Booktv, television for serious readers. This weekend on booktv, on after wordses, former nasa and Central IntelligenceAgency Director michael hate didnt talks to former director James Woolsey about national security. Also this weekend an author panel on the black power movement, report on required reading for Incoming College students. Plus, innovation adviser, alex ross, on how industries will change in the next ten years. Journalists and historian, jessy hole hand, on the lives of slaves in the white house. And next weeks indepth guest, jane mayer, reports on the influence of big money in politics from a complete schedule, booktv. Org. Book tv, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors, television for serious readers. Up next on booktv, Panel Highlights many social movements and author Greg Jobin Leeds talks about his book when we fight, we win. Our first event of 2016, so were off to a good start, i would say. [applause] so, while youre here, please feel free to take advantage of both sides of this partnership. Well have servers coming around the whole night. You can order food and drinks and makes it a fun atmosphere. Then at the end there will be a book signing. Obviously were here because of a book. So our authors will be sitting out front here signing and then you can grab a book on the way out. Well be happy to sell it to you. So, thank you again for being here. If you can take minute and turn off and silence your cell phones, we hate for them to buzz and all that stuff. And the other cspan is filming tonight up all presenters will be speaking into the microphone and during the q a ill walk around with a wireless mic and theyll be helping follow that so that we can get your questions recorded, too. So please help us out by speaking into a microphone at that point. Then at the end there will be a booksigning right up front here. So, i think thats all of the housekeeping points. Tonight, we are so, so excited to have greg jobinleeds here with a whole bunch of other contributors and people who have added really wonderful things to this book when we fight, we win. Greg is a longtime activist and helped put this collaboration together. We have artists and other members from social movements, including black lives matter, Marriage Equality and other initiatives so important, and are happening right now. Im going to let him tell you more about all the people who are here with him tonight but it should be really a fascinating discussion. Going to be a performance as well, and he is going to tell you more about all of that that is happening. The book, if you havent seen it yet, check it out. Its bull. There is art, peoples personal stories, all kind of things in this book. Tons of great interviews. It is not to be missed. So we are so thrilled to have him here for the launch of this book. Please welcome, greg jobinleeds. [applause] i want to take a moment, and maybe everybody can take a breath and bring in all your elders. The people who didnt on whose shoulders you stand and for me im thinking especially as this weekend comes up, thinking about Martin Luther king,s my father. Im sorry. I want to start with the ancestors. Start with your ancestors. All the people who have come before us, social movements, on whose shoulders we stand. So just take a moment, take a breath and bring under you elders, your ancestors, excuse me. Then take moment and bring in our elders. I think about my mother. Think. Some of the elders in the book. Take a moment and just bring all those people in. And then take a moment to bring in your peers. Peers here in washington, peers in the book, peers across the country, and peers across the globe who are all part of this Global Movement that when we fight, we win, is a small slice of. And then lets take a minute to bring in our young. The next generation, and the generations to come. And then a moment to go in the direction of the sky, and whatever that means to you, some people call it your creator, some call it god, some call it eternity. So take a moment and bring in the sky. Then i want you to bring in the ground. You can feel the ground through the concrete and the earth. And we have been doing these six directions as part of a ritual, and one thing we find about transformative social movements is there an element of ritual. That is part of all movements. Tell you a little bit how things are going to go tonight. Thank you, abbie, for welcoming us and setting this up. We have im going to start off with a fiveminute overview of the book, and then well have a who designed the art in this book, who ill give a shoutout in a minute but the dave will be showing the slides and ray from the national Lgbtq Task Force who will be speaking, and her story is the first story in the book that and her story in its incredible and then we have jonathan from the alliance for educational justice. We have with the center for community channeling, and rob, talking about the immigration movement. We have freeman from Pan African Community action and the institute for policy studies who will talk about the prison justice movement, and then were going to ill turn it over to the artist who designed and who really are the brilliance behind the book, and turn it over to them. Theyll talk and give a little show and well have a q a after that. Okay. So lets give one shoutout for day, and jorge, who this is if you havent felt the book, it feels beautiful. The art in it is absolutely stunning. It is remarkable. It is absolutely the brilliant, artistic work of day hernandez, and jorge diaz and ahay. Ive worked with ahey for 20 years now and anything they touch turns to beauty. It is absolutely incredible. Out of the darkest moments they grow flowers and it is amazing. How many people in this room are actively involved right now in social movements . That is amazing. Because when we fight, we win, has been a journey of amazing people like you, its full of wisdom and art and the images of people like you who are leading the campaign to gamechange america. All of the royalties in the book are going to go to the art and the organizations that are here, all the royalties go to their. Anything you buy here, its a nonprofit publisher, everything goes into nonprofits or this local book store so its really great. So the title when we fight we win was a rally cry first heard by jorge at the antieviction campaigns of city life in boston. Thanks for fork closing on homeowners but city life was able to keep many families in their home. City life says we dont always win. But we win every time the right to fight, we rein our humanity, and if you dont fight, we lose. When we fight we win highlights what activists are doing to change the horrific Police Brutality and deep racism in this country. The u. S. Used to be the world leader in High School Graduation rates. Today were the world leader in jails. As an activist a teacher for more than 30 years, i, like so many of you, have watched as things have gotten worse and worse, the leaders show us how to be better allies to those on the front lines of the struggle. And shows how to speak out effectively and transform our society as we stand at this very scary put but palestineol moment in history. This documents how the u. S. Immigration police are raiding homes in the death of night. Children, elder, sent to deportation camps, families torn apart. Deportation reach meanses me of my parents, my and my brother, dan, who is here, my parents watching relatives rounded up for deportation in nazi germany. I am alive and dan is alive because some people spoke up. But not enough. Not enough people spoke out about the brutality then, and thats why that i know now to be silent is to collaborate and what i have to say, we have to listen up and we have to speak out. When we fight we win is filled with the voices of moving activists and artisans and ordinary people who are not collaborating and who are making progress. One of them is patrice. She is founder of black lives matter. Her brother was arrested and tortured in the l. A. Jails. Starved and dehydrated he had to drink the water out of his toilet bowl. Patrice tells the story how she formed the l. A. Coalition to end sheriff violence and the won civilian oversight over the l. A. Sheriffs department. When we fight,. We win. When we fight use, question win. These piece of art is done by kevin johnson. He has been solitary con finement for 17 years confinement for 17 years. Not seeing another soul for 23 hours a day. When we interview him he has to write us his answer inside pencil. His powerful art became the symbol of the 30,000 california prisoners who went out on hunger strike, patrice and others in the movement were to spread their message, expose the horrific use of solitary and this year, the prisoners won major policy victory in and chae in the broad use of policy, first california, and now in new york, when we fight we win. While prison activistsed and black lives matter worked to create changes they put forthamazing, brilliant visions and show us how to get there the movements of today are gamechanging and intersected. Steve, a movement organizer at city life, helped lead successful come pains to keep people in their homes. And they do it by creating evictionfree zones. How . With my coauthors, they developed street theater and signs to tell their story using lawyers, quarters and be billing a human wall of hundreds of people, standing in solidarity, stopped banks from foreclosing on people. This is one reason why at city life today declare win we fight. We win. Worked in North Carolina to stop antiquer defense of marriage bill. They loss. But while fighting, they worked with queer immigrant youth and told their stories about the horrors of the deportation camps and the widespread discrimination they faced. The dreamers, these young activists became known as, marched with tshirts and that said undocumented, unafraid. They defied the Immigration Police and they occupied president obamas campaign office. Obamas Reelection Campaign office, and this is finally where it gets the president to fulfill his earlier promises. His campaign promises. When you fight. We win. There are many other gamechanging and interconnected movements in when we fight we win. Indigenous groups blocking the tar sands. And fracking. Occupy occupy wall street. Restaurant workers fighting for a liberal wage and many more. Together these brave souls tell the story of todays transformation. I end with four of their qualities. That make it so when we do fight, we do win. Number one, tell your story. Number two transformation only comes with visions of transformation, personal and organizational transportation formation, cultural transformation. Number three, work in solidarity, connect your struggle to others. We all need to listen up and speak out, and number four, disrupt the power, change who has the power, and how power is held. Because when we fight. We win. Thank you. [applause] next up i have the amazing honor to welcome ray carey, head of the national Lgbtq Task Force and and who just has this gorgeous story in the book, and i so look forward to being with you know. Thanks, ray. [applause] thank you. Thank you, greg. This is going to be a crying night, i can tell. Im rae, and i have the joy and the honor of talking to greg over a period of months to tell a story which is really a series of stories in this incredible book, and im not going to tell you everything that we said in the book because then you wouldnt buy it. You have too buy the book. I do want to say, i love the title for the chapter that is about the struggle for lgbt justice and equality. The title of the chapter isnt how we won Marriage Equality. Its reclaiming wholeness. And both parts of that are so critical to our movement right now. Yes, the last decade has been incredible in the work that we have done to win Marriage Equality. But the reclaiming wholeness is really about reminding the country, reminding our own movement, that the answer to the question of what is next, after winning on one issue, thats important to some people, is the same thing we have been working on for the last 60 years. Economic justice, social justice, racial justice. So, i will tell you that i came out when i was 16 years old. In denver, colorado, and i thought, sweet, im exempt. I dont have to get married i dont have to get kids. Right . That was the story then the 8s so, and i mention that because what i didnt realize i was doing was internalizing the oppression a