Two unarmed africanamerican men. This strategy of using nonaction to pressure policymakers takes a page from the activist of dr. Martin luther king jr. His likeness is just miles from where the march will arrive. The the Martin Luther king junior memorial shows a single l transformative leader who changed everything. But in fact, history tells a more complicated story. King did not emerge from a stone. He emerged from a movement that included lesser known champions for civil rights who were both advise virzs and adversaries, whods names and faces get obscured in history. And this week a new film that offers a corrective was singed out for one of hollywoods highest honors. Selma, which tells the story of the struggle and success of the Civil Rights Movement in 1965 received golden globe nominations for best motion picture, actor and director. The film shows his often contentious white house meetings to pressure president Lyndon Johnson for federal legislation to protect and secure Voting Rights. But this is not a film looking to make a myth out of a man. For all, it is called selma, not king. The story includes those who stood with king on the selma battleground. People who king recruited to the southern Leadership Conference and who was arrested on 124 occasions while working on the freedom campaign. Women, a highly respected Community Leader who became the first africanamerican woman in alabama to run for congress. These people were key players, along with king rngs king 234 the true story of this small but significant slice of history. As we the city of selma zits. King and members were looking for an ideal stage on which to shine a National Spotlight on the injustice of disenfranchisement. A Previous Anti segregation campaign in albany, georgia, had received little press because the the local white authorities could not be provoked into confrontation with the movements nonviolent protests. The movement was looking to stage its action some place where nonviolence would likely be met with violence and therefore with National Media attention. Ch in selma they found the perfect place. It also had the perfect villain in sheriff jim clark. Clark was a volatile man and segregationist dedicateded to maintaining the status quo under jim crowe. On march 7th, 1965, he did what the Movement Organizers thought he would do. Ch that day civil rights demonstrators organized a march to montgomery. They were protesting the killing of a young africanamerican man named jimmy lee jackson, shot at pointblank range by an Alabama State trooper. When 525 protesters reached the bridge on the road out of selma, they encountered a posse of sheriff clarks men, accompanied by Alabama State troopers under orders from governor wallace to stop the march. What happened next would etch the day in history as bloody sunday. Police rushed them, knocking protesters to the ground. They chargeded them on horse back and fireded tear gas at the crowd. By the time it was over, more than 50 dplemonstrators were injured. They had a makeshift hospital to treat the the wounded writing negroes lay on the floors and chairs, many weeping and moaning. A girl in red slacks was carried from the house screaming. Victims had suffered fractures of ribs, heads, arms and legs, in addition to cuts and bruises. It also won a viktry. Bloody sunday was brother or sister cad on national news, provoking Many Americans to respond with horror and outrage at what they were witnesses. And president johnson presented a bill to congress to ultimately become the the Voting Rights act of 1965. In the week that followed the killing of michael brown. Instead of showing up to protect and serve, protesters speaking out against Police Violence and the police riding armored vehicles, showed up and proved the protesters point. It was as much the Police Response to the protest as the protesters themselves that helped galvanize the movement that sprang from the first fraught days and nearly four months later, bolstered by grand juries in st. Louis and new york, declining to indict officers who killeded eric brown and michael garner, that movement is still going strong. Todays march came together in the mostly peaceful protests going on in cities across the kund. That Movement Made its way to the steps of the capitol when dozens walked out displaying the hands up, dont shoot pose in a show of solidarity. On wednesday activists brought a list of demands to a meeting with the state attorney general. At least two activists in new york, the political became personnel when they experienced wh they believed were racialized responses for the police during the protests. Sean and benjamin, both graduate students at Union Theological seminary joined with the expectation of being arrested. What they did not expect was for the police during their arrest to treat torres, who is africanamerican, very differently from perry, who is white. Sean torres and Benjamin Perry are joining me here today. So nice to have you guys. Thank you. So talk to me about the fact, both of you are Union Theological seminary students. Yes, maam. Why did you go out there . For me at least, i believe its a call from god. As ministers of the gospel, because were both ministers. We have a duty to not just be in the pulpit, but make our voices and show that we are actively engaged in these racial issues going on in the world. We cant just be comfortable in our churches and pulpits. We have to make our voices and presence known in the streets. Sew when you all made the decision to join in the streets, you went knowing that there was likely to be an arrest. Potentially this Police Reaction that weve been seeing around the country. But you wrote a piece that the the two of you were treated quite differently in the con texas of your interaction with police. Tell me about that story. Yeah, melissa. So basically when the Police Showed up to arrest us, we were all linked up in arms. We had been doing the same actions the entire evening. We had marched together. We chanted together. We had dieins together. Doing the same actions the entire night. But when the police came, i watched as they ripped sean away. Two of them. And then i offered myself up to be arrested as well. The Police Officer two tackled me, he put me down. I put my hands behind me back and he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, just get out of here. And no such offer to just get out of there was made for you . No option for me. I also understand in the context of yours arrest, youed a several encounters when plisz were making you less safe as opposed to more safe. When we were in the jail, there was a i Police Officer who was manning the cell. He kept making remarks as if these arent the real thuls that we arrested. The real thugs will come on when the puerto rican parade comes. We have the latinos come in. Those are the real thugs. What hurt me the most is yes, im black, im africanamerican and latino. Im dehumanized, criminalized and insulted. You already arrested me for being black. Now youre insulting me, not knowing who sean torres really is. Youre making me feel less of a person while im in jail. One of the things i keep wondering is whether or not these experiences will have a radicalizing, galvanizing effect on the generation. So you know, it is possible that say going and putting yourself out there and standing in that situation, you may have never had that encounter with police. The likelihood of someone who looks like you having in this encounter with the police is less likely than someone looks like you having this encounter with police. I wonder if what you look like, what your racial characteristics are falls away once you have the experience and that becomes a galvanizing moment for movement making. I think theres a lot of people now who are saying that enough is enough. We have realized what frederick dug laz said was true. Its time to get out there and demand power, just like jooe suz did. One of the reasons i wanteded to talk with you all is neither one of you, is a Martin Luther king junior figure. Who knows what you will turn into at some point. But i wonder if waiting for a king, and i dont mean the advent season, but if waiting for a king reduces the capacity of a movement to in fact move forward, if youre waiting for one leader to show up and tell us what to do. I dont think we have to wait for one leader. Are we on the shoulders of king zm i say we are on the shoulders of king. However, its time for us to hit the streets ourselves. I see hope. I see hope in the protests happening around the country. I see hope in my friend ben who staid with me. I see hope all around. I believe if people want to this be the king or participate in us becoming a collective king, they would make their presence known. You mentioned ben staid with you. At the moment you are told by the Police Officer, all right. Just get out of here, what did you do . Well, i got up and my first thought was oh, theyre letting people go. And so i turned and looked and saw sean being led away by the Police Officers. It hit me what was going on. And so in that moment, it wasnt so much a choice to stay or leave, but oo moral imperative to stay. In that sense, you had the opportunity, the responsibility of bearing witness. I wonder in part then how that story helps us to understand what it will take to build a truly multiracial movement, out of this thing still deeply racializeded racializ izize in the experienct were having. Especially when were out in the streets looking around, theres protesters from all ages, all walks of life, all ages, all religions. People getting together and saying enough is enough. You think this is truly sustainable . I do. Sean and benjamin, thank you for your courage. Thank you for your voice. Thank you for sharing your story with us this morning. Up next, were going to have a little bit of a how to build a movement 101. My panel is coming in. Ids went le announcer ] take zzzquil. The kids went to nanas house. For the whole weekend [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] zzzquil, the non habit forming sleep aid that helps you sleep easily and wake refreshed. Because sleep is a beautiful thing. We say not only do black lives matter, but all lives and all people have a right to be safe. We will take this cause to the doors of city hall. Of the doors of d. C. To the doors of all of those who have blockeded the ability for our people to be safe in the streets of america. That was at New York City Hall on wednesday where protesters demanded that city leaders take immediate action to address Police Violence. Joining me now to discuss her protest is francis fox, distinguished professor at the Graduate Center, the City University of new york and author author challenging authority. And vince warren, the director of the center for Constitutional Rights. And Barbara Smith, professor at Albany University a founder of the river collective, publisher of Kitchen Table press women of color and author of aint going to let nobody turn me around. 40 years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith. At this particular time to start with you. It feels they were as important to moving the legislation guard by their reaction. Im wondering if in this movement the movement could be stopped if police just stopped overreacting. Police officers and figure heads like that, like ray kelly in new york, for example, have a tremendous role in galvanizing the energy. And essentially the Police Departments can either move this in the right direction, to the demands of the people, or they can resist. History has shown when they resist by force or blocking policy, that only has the effect of making people more frustrated, more angry, bringing more people to the movement. And providing the images, quiet honestly. Im thinking about whats going to happen in washington. They are probably not going to come out and tear gas people. Even if we get a large gathering and rousing speeches, my bet is it may not have the galvanizing impact when the police react in these ways. Thats exactly right. The Police Departments are interesting historical entities. Theyre the last group to realize that the ground has shifted underneath them. Everybody else knows its a new day. Theyre trying to say were going to throw out tear gas. Its not going to work. If they continue to do it, its only going to hasten the demise. My best friend is a historian and going back and looking at some of what king was doing, realized king didnt know the history in which he stood, a protest that came before him, for example in montgomery and birmingham. Part mof what im interested in for you as a young activist who is engaged and value galvanizin movement happening right now, the lessons you are drawing from previous Civil Rights Movements and previous strategies. For us, particularly for myself as Justice League members and those involved in the movement is we do have a direct connection to history. Our founder is Harry Bellefonte. So we are informed of what the Civil Rights Movement did. Some of us are trained in the methodology of dr. King. And so were taking the protest rights. They came out in large numbers. Those are the lessons were taking from the previous movements but using different organizing tools that allows us to organize. For us the way in which the members of the justice legal ve niz so qui galvanize so quickly, we were texting each other and informing each other where we were and where wrooer going to meet up. So were taking the beautiful lessons for our elders and recognizing that we stand on the shoulders of many of those from the civil rights mooumt and different movement. But were also adding our own flavor to it. Thats really what works for us. Justice league is a group of young, diverse people. Having people like vince warren and Harry Bellefonte and others, we were really blessed and so, i really think that were combi combining both. Professor, i wonder about the stories we tell about movements that are wrong, that therefore give lessons inaccurate or maybe incomplete. So to look at the movement and say what does it take to sustain a longterm movement. One of the things is resources. Money. To ask what isnt important. If you had to name the things we should know about creating a sustainable movement, what are they . One thing i think we have to recognize. And i have a sense that a lot of the activists now do recognize that. Movements are not one big explosion. That they take place. They unfold over time. And they take somewhat different forms and different locals with different participants. But movements are longterm phenomenon. Theyre not just a burst. And so thats one thing thats very, very important. Another thing that i think that this movement, and i think it is a movement, that this movement knows, is that movements are not just slogans. Theyre not just parades. Theyre not just marches. Theyre not just yelling. That movements have to cause trouble. So the society resonates to some extent with the grievances, demands and hopes. So the movements are not easy, either for the participants or for the people around who have to suffer the blocked highways or whatever it is. Which is, by the way, one of the reasons that its so important for the sympathizers of the movement to speak out, to be loud. To come to the defense of the movement and echo the hopes of the movement. To be long term to be troublemakers who impose cost on society is to undoubtedly face failures. It feels like part of what happens with movements is they move forward, they get successes. They get pushed back. They meet up against the american state. They find out how powerful it is. I guess, you know, 40 years in a Movement Building and no one is going to turn me around, and yet, movement ls get turned around all the time. How do we generate that sort of sustainability even in the the context of what is often failure . I think that what has allowed me to be involved and committed is that i had the bigger picture. In other words i understand how you cant predict history. You never know whap opportunities historical circumstances are going to bring to you, but you do have to be ready. By keeping up your activism. By always paying attention, by always working collectively with people, because no one has ever changed anything, except perhaps a light bulb, by themselves. So the thing that is if p you do all of that, if you keep your movements really active and kind of peak excellence, then you can take advantage of moments. We couldnt have predicted the political circumstances we were in a year ago. We couldnt. Its not possible. Michael brown had not been murdered yet. Eric garner had not been murdered yet. I know those are terms that i cant use. Right, right. They had not been killed yet. But here we are. Och obviously theres a dynamic cohort of younger activists who have a great deal of respect for us ready to move. Stick with us. We have an important investigative report were going to highlight as well as an update on the king of the court and little bit of light heartedness next. Plus more on Movement Building when we come back. In the u. S. , real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a comple