>> MORE ON THE
>>> WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE CIVIL
RIGHTS ISSUE OF THE DAY?
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT EDUCATION.
>> YOU WANT TO CHANGE, YOU GOT
TO DO IT BY YOURSELF.
>> EVEN IF I DIDN’T MAKE IT DOWN
THE POLE, THE STATEMENT WOULD
STILL BE MADE.
>> THIS MOVEMENT IS NOT GOING TO
STOP.
>> MOST TEENAGERS GET
INCARCERATED.
ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR MOUTH.
>> IT’S PRISON OR DEATH.
>> NEVER LOSE FAITH.
KEEP THE FAITH.
>> WE’RE GOING TO KEEP DEMANDING
JUSTICE.
A MESSAGE TO BLACK AMERICA.
DON’T EXPECT NOBODY TO OPEN THE
DOOR FOR YOU.
>> CAN’T WAIT FOR THE LEADERS TO
MAKE IT BETTER.
WE HAVE TO MAKE IT BETTER.
>> THAT WAS THE TRAILER FROM
HBO’S EMMY NOMINATED ONE-WOMAN
FILM.
"NOTES FROM THE FIELD" WHICH
EXPLORES RACIAL INEQUALITY IN
AMERICA AND THE FLAWED JUSTICE
SYSTEM.
THE ACTRESS WHO PORTRAYS ALL 19
REAL-LIFE CHARACTERS IN THE
FILM, PULITZER PRIZE NOMINATED
PLAYWRIGHT AND ACTIVIST, ANNA
DEVERE SMITH JOINS US NOW.
HBO WILL BE REBROADCASTING HER
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ONE-WOMAN
FILM, AND IT IS ALSO NOW
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND.
IT IS SUCH A PLEASURE TO HAVE
YOU ON THE SHOW AND SUCH A
TERRIBLE TIME FOR AMERICA.
AND I’M WONDERING WHAT YOUR
THOUGHTS ARE GIVEN ALL THE
MESSAGES THAT YOU’VE WORKED SO
HARD TO REALLY DELIVER TO YOUR
AUDIENCE FROM YOUR SOUL ABOUT
THE PLIGHT OF BLACK AMERICA AND
OTHERS.
WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE RIGHT NOW
ABOUT THE STATE OF THINGS.
>> WELL, I -- A LOT OF THINGS,
BUT I KNOW I DON’T HAVE ALL THE
TIME IN THE WORLD SO I WANT TO
SAY TWO THINGS.
AND ONE IS THAT THIS HAS A LONG
HISTORY, THE DEATH OF GEORGE
FLOYD, THE BRUTAL BEATING HAS A
LONG HISTORY.
THROUGHOUT THE 20th CENTURY, THE
NAACP AND MANY OTHER BLACK
ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS FOUGHT TO
HAVE ANTI-LYNCHING LEGISLATION
WRITTEN INTO LAW.
IT NEVER HAPPENED.
IT NEVER HAPPENED THROUGHOUT THE
ENTIRE CENTURY AND FINALLY, IN
ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO, SENATOR
LANDRIEU LED APOLOGY ON THE
SENATE FLOOR, BUT THAT NEVER
HAPPENED.
SO THIS IS VERY DEEP.
THE BRUTALITY AGAINST PEOPLE OF
COLOR IS VERY DEEP AND, IN FACT,
GOES BACK TO THE BRUTALITY
AGAINST THE NATIVE AMERICANS IN
THIS COUNTRY.
THE OTHER THING THAT I WANT TO
TALK ABOUT IS THE THEATER OF
LAST NIGHT.
I THINK THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS A
GREAT INTEREST IN ABRAHAM
LINCOLN.
AS YOU KNOW, HE HELD A PRESS
CONFERENCE AT THE LINCOLN
MEMORIAL.
ST. JOHN’S IS THE CHURCH THAT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WENT TO.
PEW 11 WAS HIS PEW.
WHEN YOU GO TO ST. JOHN’S
EPISCOPAL CHURCH, THERE’S A
PLAQUE AT PEW 11 THAT SAYS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WALKED ACROSS
FROM THE WHITE HOUSE BY HIMSELF
EVERY NIGHT DURING THE CIVIL WAR
AND SAT IN THE BACK AT THAT PEW
AND PRAYED.
THOSE ARE THE TWO THINGS I WANT
TO BRING AFFORD.
>> GENE ROBINSON, JUMP IN.
>> ANNA, AS YOU LOOK AT THE
PROTESTS, I’M WONDERING IF
YOU’RE STRUCK AS I AM BY THE
NATIONWIDE SCOPE OF THE PROTESTS
THAT WE’VE SEEN IN THE WAKE OF
THE KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD.
ALL 50 STATES, MORE THAN 100
CITIES, VERY DIVERSE CROWDS.
WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THAT?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I THINK
THE WORD DIVERSE IS REALLY
IMPORTANT.
IN MY WORK, I GO OUT AND TALK TO
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, WRITE NOTES
FROM THE FIELD, TALK TO 250
PEOPLE TO WRITE TWILIGHT MY PLAY
ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES RIOTS IN
1992.
I TALKED TO OVER 300 PEOPLE.
SO IF WE WERE TO GO OUT INTO THE
CROWD AND ASK PEOPLE WHY THEY
WERE THERE, THEY’D HAVE A WHOLE
BUNCH OF REASONS.
IN LOS ANGELES, PEOPLE -- SOME
PEOPLE SAID IT WAS A RIOT.
SOME SAID IT WAS AN UPRISING.
SOME PEOPLE SAID THAT IT WAS A
REVOLUTION.
SO THAT’S NUMBER ONE IS THAT THE
DIVERSITY IS NOT NEWS.
AND PEOPLE’S MOTIVATIONS ARE NOT
THE SAME.
WE TEND TO TRY TO SIMPLIFY THAT.
I DO THINK, AS YOU SAY, THE
NATIONAL SCOPE OF THIS IS
REMARKABLE.
YOU TELL ME, HAS ANYTHING LIKE
THIS HAPPENED SINCE THE MURDER
OF MARTIN LUTHER KING?
>> NOT THAT I CAN THINK OF.
I MEAN, THAT’S THE ANTECEDENT I
COME BACK TO.
AND JUST IN TERMS OF HOW
GEOGRAPHICALLY WIDESPREAD THE
PROTESTS HAVE BEEN AND HOW
NUMEROUS THE PROTESTERS AND HOW
SPONTANEOUS IT ALL WAS, THAT’S
WHAT I COME BACK TO.
THIS IS DIFFERENT.
THOSE WERE BIGGER RIOTS.
BUT NOT AS MANY.
NOT AS MANY DEMONSTRATIONS AS
YOU’RE SEEING NOW.
>> IT’S WILLIE GEIST.
I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT BOTTLING
THIS MOMENT.
YOU’VE LOOKED SO CAREFULLY AND
YOU’VE WRITTEN PLAYS, PULITZER
PRIZE-NOMINATED PLAYS ABOUT
THESE MOMENTS IN HISTORY.
YOU MENTIONED THE L.A. RIOTS.
HOW DO WE TAKE WHAT WE’RE SEEING
IN THE STREETS, THE ENERGY OF
THESE PEACEFUL PROTESTS AND TURN
IT INTO CHANGE SO THAT THIS
MOMENT DOESN’T PASS SO THAT IT’S
NOT JUST A CHAPTER IN THE BOOK
AND WE TURN A PAGE AND GO BACK
TO FOCUSING ON CORONAVIRUS WHICH
DESERVES A LOT OF OUR FOCUS, BUT
HOW DO YOU MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF
ALL THIS ENERGY WE’RE SEEING?
>> WELL, I THINK YOU’RE
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
THE LANGUAGE HAS CHANGED.
I THINK WE’RE BACK IN 1992, WE
DIDN’T HEAR AS MUCH ABOUT
TRAUMA.
WE DIDN’T HEAR THAT WORD VERY
MUCH.
WE DIDN’T HEAR WORDS LIKE
TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA.
WE DIDN’T HEAR THE WORD PAIN AS
MUCH AS WE HEAR IT NOW.
BUT WE FORGET.
I SEE THESE AS FLASHES OF
INTEREST IN RACE IN AMERICA AND
IT GOES AWAY.
TO ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
RIGHT NOW IS I THINK THERE MUST
BE A SECRET HANDSHAKE BETWEEN
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT BECAUSE WE
JUST CAN’T GET AT IT.
WE CAN’T SHAKE THAT OPEN.
WE CAN’T TAKE THESE PEOPLE, WE
CAN’T GET THEM IN JAIL.
WE CAN’T CONVICT THEM.
AND THAT’S MAYBE WHAT’S SO
FRUSTRATING TO PEOPLE IS THERE’S
SOMETHING THERE.
AND WE DON’T HAVE PRIVY TO WHAT
IT IS.
THAT’S NUMBER ONE.
NUMBER TWO, YOU KNOW, I’M ALWAYS
GOING TO MAKE A CALL OUT FOR
EDUCATION AND CULTURE.
BISHOP BUDDY YESTERDAY WAS
TALKING ABOUT THE SOUL OF THE
COUNTRY BEING IN TURMOIL.
TALKING ABOUT THIS AS A MORAL
CRISIS.
WELL, THOSE OF US IN THE
HUMANITIES AND THOSE OF US IN
THE ARTS KIND OF STAND AROUND
THE OUTSIDE AND TRY TO KNOCK ON
THE DOOR OF THE REPUBLIC TO
CAUSE THE PEOPLE ON THE INSIDE
WHO KNOW WHAT THAT SECRET
HANDSHAKE IS TO DO SBHG IT.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THIS MOMENT,
BOTH IN TERMS OF CORONAVIRUS AND
DISPROPORTIONALITY BETWEEN
PEOPLE OF COLOR WHO ARE DYING
AND THOSE WHO HAVE ADVANTAGES,
YOU KNOW, THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE
WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT
INEQUALITY AND FROM ALL -- FROM
MANY POINTS OF VIEW, RIGHT?
FROM MANY POINTS OF VIEW.
IN MEDICINE RIGHT NOW, IT’S --
WE DON’T HEAR SO MUCH ABOUT IT
BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE ON THE FRONT
LINES BUT I WOULD SAY FOR THE
PAST 20 YEARS IN MEDICINE
THERE’S BEEN A DISCUSSION ABOUT
THE SOCIAL CAUSES OF -- THE
SOCIAL CAUSES OF SOME OF THE
DISEASES THAT POOR PEOPLE TEND
TO SUFFER FROM.
SO FROM DOCTORS TO SPOKEN WORD
ARTISTS, THERE’S SOMETHING TO
DO.
>> ALL RIGHT.
ANNA DEVERE SMITH, THANK YOU SO
MUCH.
HER EMMY NOMINATED FILM "NOTES
FROM THE FIELD" --
>> WE WEREN’T NOMINATED FOR AN
EMMY.
WE WERE NOMINATED FOR A CRITICS
CHOICE AWARD.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING US HIGHER
PRAISE THAN WE ACTUALLY HAVE
GARNERED.
>> NO PROBLEM AT ALL.
TIME NOW REALLY QUICKLY FOR
FINAL THOUGHTS.
JONATHAN LEMIRE, YOU’RE LOOKING
AT JOE BIDEN TODAY?
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
WE SAW YESTERDAY, MIKA, THE
SPLIT SCREEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP
STANDING IN FRONT OF A CHURCH.
JOE BIDEN IN A CHURCH TAKING A
KNEE, LISTENING TO COMMUNITY
LEADERS.
THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT IS
GOING TO DELIVER A MAJOR SPEECH
THIS MORNING FROM PHILADELPHIA
IN WHICH HE IS GOING TO SAY,
THEY JUST SENT REMARKS, I
PROMISE YOU, I WON’T TRAFFIC IN
FEAR OR DIVISION.
I WON’T FAN THE FLAMES OF HATE
AS HE TRIES TO DRAW A STARK