LEMON DROP | Juneteenth & the Legacy of John Conyers, Jr.
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
John Conyers Jr. is here, and you recognize the name. His dad, a civil rights icon and the longest-serving Black member of Congress. So is John Conyers III, J.C. III? That's me. That's you. He has a new book. Not only does he have a new book, but it is also Juneteenth that we are marking today. So thank you for joining us. Let's talk about all of it, shall we, sir? Thank you for having me. I appreciate you. Thank you very much. So how are you marking Juneteenth this year?
Juneteenth is obviously a special day. You know, my family is from the south. My father was the first generation to be raised up north. So for me, Juneteenth, you know, resonates deeply. When I leave this interview, I'm going to go be in the community with people celebrating this holiday and what it means to folks here in Detroit.
You know, John, I had some folks say, you know, it doesn't feel the same this year. Number one, the government's not behind it. They're cutting back all the DEI initiatives. Corporations are pulling back as well. Have you felt that? And look, I think we should be concerned about it, but that should not preclude us from marking and actually celebrating the freedom of our people.
Yeah, I don't feel that. the people that aren't aligned with us, them not celebrating something that if we look at their history, they probably didn't want to happen anyway. I don't look at them not supporting it as a reason for us to not celebrate and be bold and be loud and proud about what this day means. So, you know, for as far as I'm concerned and the folks that I'll be going to be in community with later, Our concern, you know, this day is still just as significant as it was last year and all the years prior.
As I mentioned, your dad, John Connors Jr., is a civil rights icon, the longest serving Black member of Congress. Worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There's a picture of him on the cover of Jet magazine, which is just fascinating to see here. There it is, on the phone, trying to do business. The nation's sixth, it says, gets sixth Negro. Now, this was back in the day. Yeah, this is in 64th.
How does John Conyers III describe the personal meaning of Juneteenth?
1964 before you and i were born um so what do you what would your father think about today and i wonder look we we got this juneteenth holiday um after dr martin luther king jr had passed obviously and i wonder what your father would say about today and working alongside of dr martin luther king jr
Oh, uh, I can tell you what he would say. He would say it to me all the time. He looked, even though they were peers, right. I was one of his closest friends. Uh, he looked up to, you know, MLK, they're literally five months to the day apart, uh, born the same year. And so they were, my father looked at him as a hero. My father often said he's the greatest human being to ever live. Uh, and so, you know, that, that is how he felt, how he thought about his friend, uh, colleague, um, and an icon.
Your book, can you hold the book up? Because I want everybody to be able to see the book, My Father's House, an ode to America's longest serving black congressman. What's the inspiration for behind that book, obviously your dad.
Well, yes. So often, I'm glad you asked it that way because normally people ask me, you know, what made you want to write a book? And the answer is I had no desire to write a book, right? This book stemmed from, you know, my father passing away while he was working on memoir, something that we had been urging him to do for quite a while. And so ultimately, what I talk about in the prologue is that whether it's MLK, Malcolm X, JFK, or RFK, oftentimes, there's no way back in those times they could have foreseen how media would you know, transform and take over narratives and legacy. And so the impetus for me deciding to take up the mantle and finishing this work was that I wanted to set the record straight and tell the story of who my father was, especially given all the things that happened at the
me to write that down and get that etched in stone. So whoever decides to write a book about my father a year from now, 20 years from now, 50 years from now, it's refuting what the family had to say about John Conyers Jr.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:13–2:39
2
How does John Conyers III describe the personal meaning of Juneteenth?
2:39–5:27
3
Why does John Conyers III say Juneteenth should still be loudly celebrated despite waning institutional support?
5:27–10:44
4
What would Congressman John Conyers Jr. think about today's political climate and Congress?
10:44–16:34
5
Why did John Conyers III decide to finish and publish My Father's House after his father's passing?
16:34–23:04
6
How does John Conyers III explain the role of money and long-term strategy in political change?
23:04–27:16
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Don Lemon Show
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