December 4, 2025 • 21 mins
In this powerful My Legacy Bonus Drop, CNN legal analyst Laura Coates sits down with her father, Dr. Norman Coates, for an intimate conversation on identity, resilience, and raising daughters to challenge the world with courage and integrity.
Together they reflect on:
- Why questioning everything can be an act of self-love
- The parenting “contracts” that built trust and strength
- How legacy and justice continue through every generation
Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with Bonus Drops every Thursday.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is my legacy. In this week's bonus Drop, Sienna
and legal analyst and anchor Laura Coats and her father,
doctor Norman Coats, look back on the wisdom he passed
down to question everything and never let anyone else define
who she is. It's an honest and inspiring conversation about truth,
trust and raising daughters who never backed down.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's jump in.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
You know, Laura, you've talked about how your father taught
you to question everything and accept nothing at face value.
So can you share a moment from your childhood when
he pushed you to challenge something you were told to
just accept.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Oh, you know, that is a very interesting question, because
you're right that my father is somebody who wanted me
to be discerning. He wanted me to question the world
not from a place of pessimism, but from a place
of pure curiosity. That ton and that required open mindedness,
and it also required me to have a healthy level
(01:05):
of skepticism to protect which which it was what people
When I realize this is a very sensitive core. I
was bullied a great deal throughout my childhood. One of
the reasons is because I was exactly the same person
I am now as a child's and people often questioned
why wouldn't just try to fit in or go along
(01:28):
to get along. They would question the way I spoke,
They would question my blackness, they would question a whole
host of things. And I remember the big challenge my
father always had for me was to be refusing to
accept somebody else's imposition of an identity on me and
(01:49):
to question what the quote unquote I pursued as a
young girl with the massive thoughts about me, because when
you're young, your perspective is totally gone, You have total
near sightedness, and you assume that whatever were more than
one person saying gosh, it must be true about you,
and you could fall into type of question yourself. And
so by simply instilling a quality in me that said,
(02:12):
you know.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
What I do, you like yourself?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Do you like who you are? And making sure that's
enough now, that was challenging because sometimes it could be grades.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
I happened to have been a great student, but he
would assign the same level of weight and attention to
an a or less than to a compliment or an
insult about his children, because he wanted us to be
challenged to know that what others thought of us should
not dictate how we thought of ourselves and whether it
(02:43):
was you're so pretty or you're so ugly, or you're
so whatever, or whatever it is. That was a challenge.
I got to tell you that that has stuck with me,
particularly in a world like this where I'm constantly under
scrutiny and where social media has entered for so many
people as a nix to doubt oneself.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
She's one hundred percent accurate when she details what my
thoughts were on grades and what other people think of her.
And I think she carries that. You know, she's in
the public eye right now, and so there's a lot
of scrutiny on her from ratings to people critique and
to show to people who write into her. And I
think that the way that she was brought up helps
(03:23):
to give her strength in terms of dealing with what
other people think of her in terms of what she
thinks of herself. So that's that's really important, insightful.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Well, nor mean, we then need some parenting advice from
both of you. So Laura, first to you, because I
love the fact that your children give you hope, and
we're all parents around the table here and our children
give us hope, But how and what type of conversations
are you having with them about what's going on right now,
ranging from you know, mental health all the way down
to what's happening in the world. How do you have
(03:56):
conversations with them in the most touching, loving way.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It's interesting that you say mental health, because that's a
conversation I frequently have with my kids, a phrase that
I don't remember being a big part of my generation's
childhood and thinking about that at all. But I often
speak to them as what someone might call check ins
in terms of how they are feeling about the times,
wor and what are they hearing, what are their friends saying.
(04:20):
But the reason I do is because I am constantly,
as my mother always says, in awe of what comes
out of the mouths of babes and how much they
really are seeing and how much they really want to say.
They may not be able to articulate it in the
way that an adult does, but it's almost a good
thing because they're unencumbered by feeling self conscious about saying
(04:45):
the right thing, and I get an unvarnished truth from
them about where they see, what they do, and so
questions like when they watch something that's horrible, whether it's
an officer involved violence or other or school shootings. Mommy
will that happened to me? And I find myself being
(05:05):
a confessional parent with exploring with them what it means
when I don't know the answer, and how they can
create the answers by their own power. If I don't know,
I don't know, but I will take you by the
hand and learn with you if I if I if
my instinct is stronger than my intellect, I will share
(05:27):
that and protect you. If my love for you requires
me to let something happen to or for you, that
those are the hardest moments, and that's when I usually
am calling my parents like.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Gushing love and logic. Yeah, ask you for all of it.
So I'm just trying as everyone. As all of us are,
I think I can all agree. We hope that we
are doing right by our children by allowing them to
keep their eyes open.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Love that and Norman, you're obviously a remarkable father. You
have three amazing girls. I have two from one girl
dad to another. What's your best advice for raising amazing ladies?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Ah, My best advice for raising amazing ladies is to
enjoy them until they meet boys and then what happens,
and then you've got to be vigilant. No, it comes
down to establishing trust. I think what you do actually
(06:41):
what I do. I can't tell you how to be
an amazing parent because I don't know that I am one.
But what I did try to do was establish contracts
with my daughters that if you say you're going to
do this, then I would expect that you would do this,
because it comes really down to trust. And if I
say I'm going to do something, then you can take
(07:01):
it to the bank that I'm actually going to do it.
So with my daughters, I always said you got to
come in at eleven thirty, twelve o'clock, eleven o'clock, whatever
it was I said, And they were really really good
about meeting that particular contract. I thought, maybe that's why
the became lawyers. I never thought about that, but anyway,
they always try to meet that contract because it really
(07:22):
is about trust. You don't have to check on them,
you don't have to listen to their phone calls, you
don't have to follow them, you don't have to interrogate
who'sever they're going out with. You just have to establish trust.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
With them.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
That's just one person between you and me, we have
a contract that trust.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Is transferable in other areas. I look at that because
that it wasn't just a curfew, it was you know,
your responsibility was school. Your responsibility was to be a
person of integrity. I understand you to be that person
and you that was our contract as well to uphold
the moral compass directionally that we as a family established
that that was you know, just as you could take
(07:59):
it to the bank, that we would be the people
we ought to be. We knew that you all were
those people as well. You also have to add a
little bit of crazy that really will add to perfect mix.
Like if you if you if you know your parents
are a little bit crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You and uphold that.
Speaker 7 (08:16):
God, there's the skit that my sisters share with me,
and they say that you have to show your kids
three times that you are really crazy, Like once when
they're really little, once when they're a preteen, and then
once when they're teen. They like they just really and
then and then after that they you know, but they
have to really think you're really crazy, just three times.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
That's hilarious.
Speaker 8 (08:42):
Norman, I like with with the utmost of respect.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I have to disagree with you.
Speaker 8 (08:47):
I think you're an amazing act.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
If you're looking for stories that move you, insights that
shift you, in conversations that stay deeply within you, do
us a favor, and do yourself a favor, and hit
the subscribe button right now. New episodes dropped every week.
Speaker 9 (09:07):
Now back to my legacy, Laura.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
You are such an impressive human being, and not only
as fans of your show, but just as a person.
And obviously you went to Princeton and you went to
law school, and you decided to become a prosecutor, and
not just any prosecutor, specifically in the Civil Rights Division
in the Department of Justice. So what impacted that decision.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I actually started out in private practice in Minneapolis and
in New York, where I was doing First Amendment and
defamation and media and intellectual property litigation. Loved that work,
loved the mentors I had who looked out for me,
those who didn't look like me but saw themselves in
(09:48):
me and were willing to give me a chance at learning.
And I loved the work. But I didn't have the
fire in my belly that I had for civil rights
in that sort of work. You know, my mom grew
up with her parents who moved from faithe Well, North Carolina,
up to Stamford, Connecticut, where they were domestic workers for
(10:10):
companies that would eventually become my clients at firms, the DuPonts,
the Merks, you name it. My grandfather was a chauffeir,
my grandmother domestic and actually it was the Merks who
went on to fund my two uncles medical school tuitions.
And so I carry a into any room. Like Maya
(10:32):
Angelo once said in a graduation speech, you don't walk
into a room as yourself. You walk into the room
and you invite your ancestors with you. You invite their
stories with you. So when I walked into the practice
of law, I was saying, come on, Grandma, come on, Grandpa,
come on, aunt, come on, such as come on friends,
come on, all who have loved me or who have
(10:53):
wanted more for themselves, come with me and for me.
That led me the civil rights work and the voting
Rights action specifically, which happened to be the topic of
my senior thesis at Princeton. It was about ending fell
in disenfranchisement. I viewed it as the one of the
last bestiges of the Southern redemption strategy and trying to
(11:15):
exploit the Thirteenth Amendment to oppress a group of people
to do an end run around voting rights in this country.
So when I had the opportunity to even be interviewed
with the Department of Justice, I brought those who loved
me with me and channeling the truth, which was interviewing
(11:36):
in J. Edgar Hoover's office which was now the Civil
Rights Division. Can you imagine irony? And you were smiling,
I know, mister k because you know the irony of
that of being in that room. Now, granted, when I
interviewed that day, I had broken my heel and Sis,
you know what this is like. The metal part is
like scraping the Margle floor. I'm making quite a ruckus
(11:57):
as I walk into the building. But that was the
fire my belly to do that work and monitor elections
and work on policy. But then I had an even
stronger belly as well to understand what justice was like
on the front lines, and went to then become a
trial attorney, federal prosecutor, prosecuting violent crime sex offenses on
(12:20):
behalf of children, behalf of those who didn't have a voice,
violent drug offenses and beyond. And I found the work
equal parts rewarding and devastating, because there is nothing like
seeing the power of an individual person wielded against the
(12:43):
masses in any capacity, whether it was for the righteous
reasons or whether it was because you could. And when
I had my children and there was something there was
happening in the world, whether it was the killing of
my Trayvon Martin, or officer involved shootings, or what was
happening at Sandy Hook, the list goes on voting, suppression activities,
(13:09):
and I thought, I've got to I've got to take
off a muzzle that you have to have if you're
working in those fields and speak truth to power, but
also help people understand what that truth was. But I
had nothing in the way of experience in journalism. I
didn't know a single soul. I knew who wolf Blitzer
(13:32):
was but watched her, but I didn't know anything about it.
And I parked myself in a Panera bread and began
with my laptop and my nursing daughter to figure out
how I could right my way into the spaces that
I thought needed to understand what truth was. And for me,
it is trying to have information as advocacy and destroy
(13:59):
the elite that says only only a few get to
know the truth and then they get to decide what's
the life for everyone else. I have to just reiterate this,
and I don't want to be unsaid by either my
father or I.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
There is no.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Legacy at all in America, let alone Black America that
does not have your father in law, your father as
an inspiration. There's not There's not one. There's not a
single moment I think any of us can reference where
we don't go back and say, well I can, I
(14:40):
must and I will because of what he endured. I mean, Daddy,
you went to Atlanta and I rember tim me to
go visiting the center, which I've now been to obviously,
but and you said, brought tears to your eyes or
walk us through they remember that into the number time
number flying to jail, because I mean just that, I
mean he called me emotional about that. We were all
(15:03):
at a conference call together because he wanted to share
it because at once all his children and his wife
of course, about what that was like to just see
do you have any idea what this man had been through?
And you had lived through the era and just seeing
it up there, I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Well, twenty nine times arrested and some say thirty, but
twenty nine times arrested, sitting in a jail cell, one
time being sentenced to four months of hard labor while
I'm playing soccer on a field, you know. And he
and he was the He's like the domino, you know,
he could think of Mahatmaganny and then the domino start
(15:39):
to fall, and then you've got Martin Luther King and
Nelson Mandela and everyone else until we get to the
CRA nineteen sixty four. And then from you know, we
had Title six and we have fair housing, all of
which Martin Luther King was instrumental in making sure it
got passed, and you know, outlawing redlining, realty redlining, as
(16:04):
well as my neighborhood providence, you know, providences so that
people could live in certain areas that can be traced
back to MLK and even Title nine and the ADA
and gay rights just discriminating against people based on their
sexual orientation all go back to that CRA. Although they
(16:24):
you know, there were different laws that would pass because
of them, but it still starts with the argument that
you cannot discriminate against people no matter who they are.
And I think he said in his letter from Birmingham
that injustice for one is in justice for all, and
that again part of the Martin Luther King legacy. And
even as far as the fact that University of Alabama
(16:46):
can call themselves a football powerhouse, still goes back to
MLK because you wouldn't have those athletes in that school
if he hadn't fought for the right for them to
be there. So I agree with Laura that mlka's legacy
is one that you should always be proud of, that
we should always bring up and we should always remember.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
And that's why we also are very passionate about having
everyone see themselves as part of the King legacy and
to see what our role is in creating that beloved community.
That's one of the reasons that collectively the four of
us have the realized the dream initiative of which we
want to have one hundred million hours of service completed
(17:32):
across this country by Martin Luther King's Junior's one hundredth birthday.
We believe now is our turn, each of us, our
turn in that long walk towards freedom.
Speaker 8 (17:44):
Well, I've heard you speak many times. The part of
the reason why this work realized the dream is so
important is because America is one of the great inflection
moments since the days of doctor King. And when we look, Laura,
at the work that you do, this is a very
complicated time. This is a very politicized time. This is
a time where people, even when you look at your
(18:06):
old employer, the Department of Justice, question whether justice can
truly be blind? And people are losing faith in institutions.
And so what do you say to those individuals who question.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Can people truly.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Receive free and fair and equal justice today?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
My answer might surprise you because I am happy that
people are asking and questioning the institutions that we have
believed are at their peak. I am glad that people
are questioning because it means that they know the work
still needs to be done. So often we hear about
(18:49):
the Civil rights era as if there was a beginning
and there was an end and the work is complete.
But it really is a continuum. It really is something
that needs to consistently be worked on. I mean, it
is a work in progress because human nature is in progress.
And if we treat it as if the work is done,
(19:12):
we get complacent, and then we realize that the same
ills of society that spark the movements to begin with
will rear their heads again. And so I really think
that this is the time to be alive. And I
don't mean just existing, I mean alive and active and
(19:37):
questioning and continuing to shape the world we want to
live in. So as difficult as this time is, it
is a reminder not to be complacent. It is a
reminder not to stop trying, and it is a reminder
that it's only a republic if we can keep it.
(19:59):
It's only a civil right if we are civil and
it's only a right if we demand that they exist.
And so it's taxing, it's wearing on all of us.
I mean, I'm going to send a bill to someone
from my hair color at some point, whoever that might be.
But in the meantime, I'm going to welcome the fight
(20:23):
so that another generation won't have the same one because
I do feel guilt. I think we all feel guilt.
Different generations feel guilt that came after the great leaders
of whether it's Thurgard Marshall or Charles Hamilton Houston or
Martin ruthur King Jr. There is some guilt about how
(20:45):
quickly it has some things have unraveled, and I do
wonder if that guilt can fuel people's refusal to be
complacent and say hold on, you know, not on my watch,
not on my watch.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Thank you for joining us. If you enjoyed today's conversation, subscribe, share,
and follow us on at my Legacy Movement on social
media and YouTube. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with bonus
content every Thursday. At its core, this podcast honors doctor
King's vision of the beloved community and the power of connection.
(21:24):
A Legacy Plus Studio production distributed by iHeartMedia creator and
executive producer Suzanne Hayward co executive producer Lisa Lyle. Listen
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is my legacy. In this week's bonus Drop, Sienna
and legal analyst and anchor Laura Coats and her father,
doctor Norman Coats, look back on the wisdom he passed
down to question everything and never let anyone else define
who she is. It's an honest and inspiring conversation about truth,
trust and raising daughters who never backed down.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Let's jump in.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
You know, Laura, you've talked about how your father taught
you to question everything and accept nothing at face value.
So can you share a moment from your childhood when
he pushed you to challenge something you were told to
just accept.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Oh, you know, that is a very interesting question, because
you're right that my father is somebody who wanted me
to be discerning. He wanted me to question the world
not from a place of pessimism, but from a place
of pure curiosity. That ton and that required open mindedness,
and it also required me to have a healthy level
(01:05):
of skepticism to protect which which it was what people
When I realize this is a very sensitive core. I
was bullied a great deal throughout my childhood. One of
the reasons is because I was exactly the same person
I am now as a child's and people often questioned
why wouldn't just try to fit in or go along
(01:28):
to get along. They would question the way I spoke,
They would question my blackness, they would question a whole
host of things. And I remember the big challenge my
father always had for me was to be refusing to
accept somebody else's imposition of an identity on me and
(01:49):
to question what the quote unquote I pursued as a
young girl with the massive thoughts about me, because when
you're young, your perspective is totally gone, You have total
near sightedness, and you assume that whatever were more than
one person saying gosh, it must be true about you,
and you could fall into type of question yourself. And
so by simply instilling a quality in me that said,
(02:12):
you know.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
What I do, you like yourself?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Do you like who you are? And making sure that's
enough now, that was challenging because sometimes it could be grades.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
I happened to have been a great student, but he
would assign the same level of weight and attention to
an a or less than to a compliment or an
insult about his children, because he wanted us to be
challenged to know that what others thought of us should
not dictate how we thought of ourselves and whether it
(02:43):
was you're so pretty or you're so ugly, or you're
so whatever, or whatever it is. That was a challenge.
I got to tell you that that has stuck with me,
particularly in a world like this where I'm constantly under
scrutiny and where social media has entered for so many
people as a nix to doubt oneself.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
She's one hundred percent accurate when she details what my
thoughts were on grades and what other people think of her.
And I think she carries that. You know, she's in
the public eye right now, and so there's a lot
of scrutiny on her from ratings to people critique and
to show to people who write into her. And I
think that the way that she was brought up helps
(03:23):
to give her strength in terms of dealing with what
other people think of her in terms of what she
thinks of herself. So that's that's really important, insightful.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Well, nor mean, we then need some parenting advice from
both of you. So Laura, first to you, because I
love the fact that your children give you hope, and
we're all parents around the table here and our children
give us hope, But how and what type of conversations
are you having with them about what's going on right now,
ranging from you know, mental health all the way down
to what's happening in the world. How do you have
(03:56):
conversations with them in the most touching, loving way.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It's interesting that you say mental health, because that's a
conversation I frequently have with my kids, a phrase that
I don't remember being a big part of my generation's
childhood and thinking about that at all. But I often
speak to them as what someone might call check ins
in terms of how they are feeling about the times,
wor and what are they hearing, what are their friends saying.
(04:20):
But the reason I do is because I am constantly,
as my mother always says, in awe of what comes
out of the mouths of babes and how much they
really are seeing and how much they really want to say.
They may not be able to articulate it in the
way that an adult does, but it's almost a good
thing because they're unencumbered by feeling self conscious about saying
(04:45):
the right thing, and I get an unvarnished truth from
them about where they see, what they do, and so
questions like when they watch something that's horrible, whether it's
an officer involved violence or other or school shootings. Mommy
will that happened to me? And I find myself being
(05:05):
a confessional parent with exploring with them what it means
when I don't know the answer, and how they can
create the answers by their own power. If I don't know,
I don't know, but I will take you by the
hand and learn with you if I if I if
my instinct is stronger than my intellect, I will share
(05:27):
that and protect you. If my love for you requires
me to let something happen to or for you, that
those are the hardest moments, and that's when I usually
am calling my parents like.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Gushing love and logic. Yeah, ask you for all of it.
So I'm just trying as everyone. As all of us are,
I think I can all agree. We hope that we
are doing right by our children by allowing them to
keep their eyes open.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Love that and Norman, you're obviously a remarkable father. You
have three amazing girls. I have two from one girl
dad to another. What's your best advice for raising amazing ladies?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Ah, My best advice for raising amazing ladies is to
enjoy them until they meet boys and then what happens,
and then you've got to be vigilant. No, it comes
down to establishing trust. I think what you do actually
(06:41):
what I do. I can't tell you how to be
an amazing parent because I don't know that I am one.
But what I did try to do was establish contracts
with my daughters that if you say you're going to
do this, then I would expect that you would do this,
because it comes really down to trust. And if I
say I'm going to do something, then you can take
(07:01):
it to the bank that I'm actually going to do it.
So with my daughters, I always said you got to
come in at eleven thirty, twelve o'clock, eleven o'clock, whatever
it was I said, And they were really really good
about meeting that particular contract. I thought, maybe that's why
the became lawyers. I never thought about that, but anyway,
they always try to meet that contract because it really
(07:22):
is about trust. You don't have to check on them,
you don't have to listen to their phone calls, you
don't have to follow them, you don't have to interrogate
who'sever they're going out with. You just have to establish trust.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
With them.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
That's just one person between you and me, we have
a contract that trust.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Is transferable in other areas. I look at that because
that it wasn't just a curfew, it was you know,
your responsibility was school. Your responsibility was to be a
person of integrity. I understand you to be that person
and you that was our contract as well to uphold
the moral compass directionally that we as a family established
that that was you know, just as you could take
(07:59):
it to the bank, that we would be the people
we ought to be. We knew that you all were
those people as well. You also have to add a
little bit of crazy that really will add to perfect mix.
Like if you if you if you know your parents
are a little bit crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
You and uphold that.
Speaker 7 (08:16):
God, there's the skit that my sisters share with me,
and they say that you have to show your kids
three times that you are really crazy, Like once when
they're really little, once when they're a preteen, and then
once when they're teen. They like they just really and
then and then after that they you know, but they
have to really think you're really crazy, just three times.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
That's hilarious.
Speaker 8 (08:42):
Norman, I like with with the utmost of respect.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I have to disagree with you.
Speaker 8 (08:47):
I think you're an amazing act.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
If you're looking for stories that move you, insights that
shift you, in conversations that stay deeply within you, do
us a favor, and do yourself a favor, and hit
the subscribe button right now. New episodes dropped every week.
Speaker 9 (09:07):
Now back to my legacy, Laura.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
You are such an impressive human being, and not only
as fans of your show, but just as a person.
And obviously you went to Princeton and you went to
law school, and you decided to become a prosecutor, and
not just any prosecutor, specifically in the Civil Rights Division
in the Department of Justice. So what impacted that decision.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I actually started out in private practice in Minneapolis and
in New York, where I was doing First Amendment and
defamation and media and intellectual property litigation. Loved that work,
loved the mentors I had who looked out for me,
those who didn't look like me but saw themselves in
(09:48):
me and were willing to give me a chance at learning.
And I loved the work. But I didn't have the
fire in my belly that I had for civil rights
in that sort of work. You know, my mom grew
up with her parents who moved from faithe Well, North Carolina,
up to Stamford, Connecticut, where they were domestic workers for
(10:10):
companies that would eventually become my clients at firms, the DuPonts,
the Merks, you name it. My grandfather was a chauffeir,
my grandmother domestic and actually it was the Merks who
went on to fund my two uncles medical school tuitions.
And so I carry a into any room. Like Maya
(10:32):
Angelo once said in a graduation speech, you don't walk
into a room as yourself. You walk into the room
and you invite your ancestors with you. You invite their
stories with you. So when I walked into the practice
of law, I was saying, come on, Grandma, come on, Grandpa,
come on, aunt, come on, such as come on friends,
come on, all who have loved me or who have
(10:53):
wanted more for themselves, come with me and for me.
That led me the civil rights work and the voting
Rights action specifically, which happened to be the topic of
my senior thesis at Princeton. It was about ending fell
in disenfranchisement. I viewed it as the one of the
last bestiges of the Southern redemption strategy and trying to
(11:15):
exploit the Thirteenth Amendment to oppress a group of people
to do an end run around voting rights in this country.
So when I had the opportunity to even be interviewed
with the Department of Justice, I brought those who loved
me with me and channeling the truth, which was interviewing
(11:36):
in J. Edgar Hoover's office which was now the Civil
Rights Division. Can you imagine irony? And you were smiling,
I know, mister k because you know the irony of
that of being in that room. Now, granted, when I
interviewed that day, I had broken my heel and Sis,
you know what this is like. The metal part is
like scraping the Margle floor. I'm making quite a ruckus
(11:57):
as I walk into the building. But that was the
fire my belly to do that work and monitor elections
and work on policy. But then I had an even
stronger belly as well to understand what justice was like
on the front lines, and went to then become a
trial attorney, federal prosecutor, prosecuting violent crime sex offenses on
(12:20):
behalf of children, behalf of those who didn't have a voice,
violent drug offenses and beyond. And I found the work
equal parts rewarding and devastating, because there is nothing like
seeing the power of an individual person wielded against the
(12:43):
masses in any capacity, whether it was for the righteous
reasons or whether it was because you could. And when
I had my children and there was something there was
happening in the world, whether it was the killing of
my Trayvon Martin, or officer involved shootings, or what was
happening at Sandy Hook, the list goes on voting, suppression activities,
(13:09):
and I thought, I've got to I've got to take
off a muzzle that you have to have if you're
working in those fields and speak truth to power, but
also help people understand what that truth was. But I
had nothing in the way of experience in journalism. I
didn't know a single soul. I knew who wolf Blitzer
(13:32):
was but watched her, but I didn't know anything about it.
And I parked myself in a Panera bread and began
with my laptop and my nursing daughter to figure out
how I could right my way into the spaces that
I thought needed to understand what truth was. And for me,
it is trying to have information as advocacy and destroy
(13:59):
the elite that says only only a few get to
know the truth and then they get to decide what's
the life for everyone else. I have to just reiterate this,
and I don't want to be unsaid by either my
father or I.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
There is no.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Legacy at all in America, let alone Black America that
does not have your father in law, your father as
an inspiration. There's not There's not one. There's not a
single moment I think any of us can reference where
we don't go back and say, well I can, I
(14:40):
must and I will because of what he endured. I mean, Daddy,
you went to Atlanta and I rember tim me to
go visiting the center, which I've now been to obviously,
but and you said, brought tears to your eyes or
walk us through they remember that into the number time
number flying to jail, because I mean just that, I
mean he called me emotional about that. We were all
(15:03):
at a conference call together because he wanted to share
it because at once all his children and his wife
of course, about what that was like to just see
do you have any idea what this man had been through?
And you had lived through the era and just seeing
it up there, I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Well, twenty nine times arrested and some say thirty, but
twenty nine times arrested, sitting in a jail cell, one
time being sentenced to four months of hard labor while
I'm playing soccer on a field, you know. And he
and he was the He's like the domino, you know,
he could think of Mahatmaganny and then the domino start
(15:39):
to fall, and then you've got Martin Luther King and
Nelson Mandela and everyone else until we get to the
CRA nineteen sixty four. And then from you know, we
had Title six and we have fair housing, all of
which Martin Luther King was instrumental in making sure it
got passed, and you know, outlawing redlining, realty redlining, as
(16:04):
well as my neighborhood providence, you know, providences so that
people could live in certain areas that can be traced
back to MLK and even Title nine and the ADA
and gay rights just discriminating against people based on their
sexual orientation all go back to that CRA. Although they
(16:24):
you know, there were different laws that would pass because
of them, but it still starts with the argument that
you cannot discriminate against people no matter who they are.
And I think he said in his letter from Birmingham
that injustice for one is in justice for all, and
that again part of the Martin Luther King legacy. And
even as far as the fact that University of Alabama
(16:46):
can call themselves a football powerhouse, still goes back to
MLK because you wouldn't have those athletes in that school
if he hadn't fought for the right for them to
be there. So I agree with Laura that mlka's legacy
is one that you should always be proud of, that
we should always bring up and we should always remember.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
And that's why we also are very passionate about having
everyone see themselves as part of the King legacy and
to see what our role is in creating that beloved community.
That's one of the reasons that collectively the four of
us have the realized the dream initiative of which we
want to have one hundred million hours of service completed
(17:32):
across this country by Martin Luther King's Junior's one hundredth birthday.
We believe now is our turn, each of us, our
turn in that long walk towards freedom.
Speaker 8 (17:44):
Well, I've heard you speak many times. The part of
the reason why this work realized the dream is so
important is because America is one of the great inflection
moments since the days of doctor King. And when we look, Laura,
at the work that you do, this is a very
complicated time. This is a very politicized time. This is
a time where people, even when you look at your
(18:06):
old employer, the Department of Justice, question whether justice can
truly be blind? And people are losing faith in institutions.
And so what do you say to those individuals who question.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Can people truly.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Receive free and fair and equal justice today?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
My answer might surprise you because I am happy that
people are asking and questioning the institutions that we have
believed are at their peak. I am glad that people
are questioning because it means that they know the work
still needs to be done. So often we hear about
(18:49):
the Civil rights era as if there was a beginning
and there was an end and the work is complete.
But it really is a continuum. It really is something
that needs to consistently be worked on. I mean, it
is a work in progress because human nature is in progress.
And if we treat it as if the work is done,
(19:12):
we get complacent, and then we realize that the same
ills of society that spark the movements to begin with
will rear their heads again. And so I really think
that this is the time to be alive. And I
don't mean just existing, I mean alive and active and
(19:37):
questioning and continuing to shape the world we want to
live in. So as difficult as this time is, it
is a reminder not to be complacent. It is a
reminder not to stop trying, and it is a reminder
that it's only a republic if we can keep it.
(19:59):
It's only a civil right if we are civil and
it's only a right if we demand that they exist.
And so it's taxing, it's wearing on all of us.
I mean, I'm going to send a bill to someone
from my hair color at some point, whoever that might be.
But in the meantime, I'm going to welcome the fight
(20:23):
so that another generation won't have the same one because
I do feel guilt. I think we all feel guilt.
Different generations feel guilt that came after the great leaders
of whether it's Thurgard Marshall or Charles Hamilton Houston or
Martin ruthur King Jr. There is some guilt about how
(20:45):
quickly it has some things have unraveled, and I do
wonder if that guilt can fuel people's refusal to be
complacent and say hold on, you know, not on my watch,
not on my watch.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Thank you for joining us. If you enjoyed today's conversation, subscribe, share,
and follow us on at my Legacy Movement on social
media and YouTube. New episodes drop every Tuesday, with bonus
content every Thursday. At its core, this podcast honors doctor
King's vision of the beloved community and the power of connection.
(21:24):
A Legacy Plus Studio production distributed by iHeartMedia creator and
executive producer Suzanne Hayward co executive producer Lisa Lyle. Listen
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Craig Kielburger
Marc Kielburger
Martin Luther King III
Arndrea Waters King
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com