COMPANY, HAS FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLE OF HIS FOUNDER TO GIVE BACK TO OUR LOUISIANA COMMUNITIES WHERE WE LIVE AND WORK.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT ROYOMARTIN.COM.

THE LOUISIANA LOTTERY IS PROUD TO JOIN LPB IN HONORING THE 2018 LOUISIANA LEGENDS, CONTRIBUTING OVER $3.5 BILLION FOR K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION.

THE LOTTERY IS GIVING LOUISIANA A REASON TO SMILE.

SUPPORT FOR THE 2018 LOUISIANA LEGENDS COMES FROM WILLIS KNIGHTEN, A LOCALLY OWNED AND LOCALLY OPERATED NONPROFIT HEALTH SYSTEM SERVING PATIENTS SINCE 1924 WELCOME TO LOUISIANA LEGENDS, I'M BETH COURTNEY AND WE ARE HERE WITH A 2018 LOUISIANA LEGEND, SYBIL HAYDEL MORIAL, IN HER HOME, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A WONDERFUL CONVERSATION WITH HER BUT FIRST LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SHORT BIOGRAPHY.

SYBIL HAYDEL MORIAL, EDUCATOR, ACTIVIST, AND COMMUNITY LEADER, WAS BORN IN NEW ORLEANS IN IS THE 1930s.

HER FATHER C.C.

WAS A SURGEON, AND HER MOTHER HAD BEEN A TEACHER.

SYBIL HAD TWO BROTHERS.

C.C.

AND GLEN.

AND ONE SISTER, JEAN.

BOTH SHE AND HER SISTER WERE DEBUTANTES, AND THE FAMILY WAS PART OF THE NEW LIEN'S CREOLE ELITE.

YET AS AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE ERA OF JIM CROW THEY FACED THE HUMILIATIONS OF SEGREGATION.

HER PARENTS ALWAYS INSTILLED IN HER THAT THINGS WERE GOING TO CHANGE.

AND I THINK THAT SHE KNEW THAT.

AS A YOUNG CHILD SHE WAS VERY SMART.

SHE WAS PROGRESSIVE.

SHE WAS A 16-YEAR-OLD WHO GRADUATED EARLY FROM HIGH SCHOOL.

SHE WENT TO XAVIER UNIVERSITY FOR TWO YEARS AND TRANSFERRED FOR BOSTON UNIVERSITY.

IN COLLEGE SHE MET MARTIN LUTHER KING AND CORETTA SCOTT KING, AND THEY MADE AN IMPRESSION ON HER, ALTHOUGH SHE WAS CUTE ABOUT SAYING, MARTIN HAD A CAR, AND GIRLS WOULD GO OUT WITH HIM BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THE REST OF THE TIME YOU HAD TO TAKE THE SUBWAY SO IT WAS NICE TO HAVE A GUY WITH A CAR SO YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL CATCH YOUR EYE.

WHILE IS A CANDIDATE FOR A MASTER'S DEGREE SYBIL BECAME A FIRST GRADE TEACHER, THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO TEACH IN THE NEWTON MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL SYSTEM.

AFTER COMPLETING HER EDUCATION AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, SYBIL RETURNED TO HER HOMETOWN OF NEW ORLEANS, CONTINUED HER LIFE AS A TEACHER AND MARRIED ERNEST DUTCH MORIAL.

TOGETHER THEY BEGAN A REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF BREAKING DOWN RACIAL BARRIERS AND ACHIEVING MANY HISTORY-MAKING FIRSTS.

IT WAS DANGEROUS TO TRY TO CHANGE THE LAW.

IT WAS DANGEROUS TO BE THE FIRST AT EVERYTHING.

EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT DUTCH BEING THE FIRST, AND HE WAS, BUT WHEN HE WAS BEING THE FIRST, IT MEANT SYBIL WAS ALSO BEING THE FIRST.

I ALWAYS RESPECT HER BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW PEOPLE LIKE SYBIL MORIAL, CORETTA KING, THOSE KIND OF WOMEN, THEY WERE MARRIED TO MEN WHO WERE ALWAYS MOVING.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS.

THAT'S NOT EASY TO LIVE WITH THAT.

SHE IS AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN SUCCESSFUL IN SO MANY VENUES AND WAYS DURING A TIME PERIOD IN WHICH THERE WERE SO MANY BARRIERS TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS, PARTICULARLY LEGAL BARRIERS.

HER INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION AND ASSURING VOTING RIGHTS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS LED SYBIL TO FOUND THE LOUISIANA LEAGUE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT.

AND AN INTERNATIONAL RACIAL WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO GUARANTEEING CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR ALL CITIZENS.

AND IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE SYBIL BECAME A LEADER IN NEARLY EVERY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION IN NEW ORLEANS.

I COULD BEST DESCRIBE HER AS AN ICON IN TERMS OF CIVIC ACTIVITIES AND CIVIL RIGHTS AND QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES IN THIS STATE AND THIS CITY.

IF YOU WANTED TO HAVE SOMEBODY IN ANY ONE OF THOSE AREAS, SHE HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT.

SHE WAS INVOLVED.

AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND ON CHRISTMAS EVE IN 1989 SYBIL WAS ASKED TO RUN FOR MAYOR.

SHE DECLINED AND CONTINUED TO WORK ON SEVERAL CAUSES AND SUPPORTED HER SON, MARK, WHO BECAME MAYOR AND SERVED FOR TWO TERMS.

NEW ORLEANS WOULD HAVE BEEN A FAR DIFFERENT CITY HAD HER HUSBAND NOT BEEN MAYOR AND SON NOT BEEN MAYOR BUT THAT SHE HAD NOT BEEN RIGHT WHEN WITH THEM.

CONSOLING THEM, ENCOURAGING THEM, INSPIRING THEM.

AND AFTER SHE RAISED HER FAMILY AS WELL, AND DOING HER TIME SHE GOT INVOLVED HERSELF IN ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS AND ALL OF THE POLITIC LIFE ISSUESHER NEW BOOK "WITNESS TO CHANGE," IN IT SHE TELLS HER STORY OF BEING ON THE FRONT LINES AND SOME OF THE MOST TUMULTUOUS TIMES IN HER HISTORY.

SHE WAS A WITNESS TO CHANGE.

NO KIDDING.

HUGE CHANGE.

IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW FAR BACK WE WERE AND HOW FAR WE HAVE COME.

SHE SAW INCREDIBLE CHANGE, AND SHE MADE INCREDIBLE CHANGE.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK UP TO SOMEONE AND SEE SOMEONE WHO HAS INTEGRITY AND HAS BEEN ABLE TO PUT THEIR INTELLIGENCE, THEIR FAITH, THEIR VALUES TO GOOD USE, NOT JUST FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILY, BUT FOR THE GREATER GOOD, FOR THE GREATER COMMUNITY.

I THINK HER BIGGEST JOY IS SEEING OTHERS HAPPY AS WELL AS SUCCESSFUL AND EMPOWERED BY HER, AND I THINK THAT GIVES HER JOY THAT SHE HAS HELPED EMPOWER ANOTHER GENERATION OF WOMEN.

TODAY THE FORMER FIRST LADY OF NEW ORLEANS REMAINS ACTIVE SERVING ON THE BOARDS OF NUMEROUS WORLDWIDE CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS.

MOTHER OF FIVE.

GRANDMOTHER OF SEVEN.

SYBIL HAYDEL MORIAL ENJOYS TIME WITH HER FAMILY, AND SITTING UNDER THE TREES ON THE BANKS OF A LAZY BAYOU THAT FLOWS BEHIND HER HOME.

WELL, WELCOME BACK, SYBIL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALLOWING US TO COME INTO YOUR HOME.

I AM DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU.

WELL I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO TALKING TO YOU, AND I WANT TO REALLY BEGIN BY SAYING I LOVED YOUR BOOK "WITNESS TO CHANGE."

I THOUGHT IT WAS EXTRAORDINARY.

AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE IT?

IN 2005 I RETIRED FROM XAVIER.

I HAD BEEN AN ADMINISTER FOR 28 YEARS.

IN VARIOUS POSITIONS AS ASSOCIATE DEAN, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, AND FINALLY VICE PRESIDENT FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS.

I RETIRED.

TWO MONTHS BEFORE KATRINA.

HERE COMES KATRINA.

I EVACUATED TO BATON ROUGE WHERE MY DAUGHTER SHARI LIVES AND ENDED UP THERE FOR EIGHT YEARS.

MY HOUSE FLOODED, AND AS I WAS GRIEVING MY LOSSES, I WAS SO SAD THAT I HAD LOST PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA AND SO MANY REMINDERS OF OUR WONDERFUL LIFE WITH MY CHILDREN.

AS I LAID IN BED AT NIGHT, THOUGHT ABOUT EACH EVENT IN DETAIL, ONE AT A TIME, AND THE NEXT MORNING I WOULD GET ON THE COMPUTER AND WRITE THE STORY.

I WANTED TO DO THAT FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN.

MY CHILDREN ALSO BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW THE EARLY PART OF MY LIFE, THE DETAILS.

THEY KNEW WHEN WE LIVED A PUBLIC LIFE.

THEY WERE VERY AWARE AND A PART OF IT.

I ESPECIALLY ENJOYED READING WHEN YOU WERE A YOUNG GIRL.

I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT THAT YOUR PARENTS WERE SO LOVING AND SORT OF NURTURED AND KEPT YOU IN A BUBBLE, SO YOU WERE SOME HOW YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE ILL EFFECTS OF SEGREGATION.

BUT WAS THAT TOUGH TALKING, WRITING ABOUT THAT?

OR DID YOU FEEL A NECESSITY TO WRITE ABOUT THAT EARLY TIME?

I FELT A NECESSITY BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT GUIDED ME LIFE, MY ASPIRATIONS AND IN MY ADULT LIFE WERE EVEN THOUGH THE LAWS HAD CHANGED.

THE SENTIMENTS OF MANY HAVE NOT CHANGED.

TELL US ABOUT RIDING YOUR BIKES, TRYING TO GO.

YOU COULD NOT GO TO CITY PARK.

YES.

WE WERE LIMITED.

WE COULDN'T GO TO ANY PUBLIC PLACES.

NOT ANY.

SO ONE DAY MY SISTER, JEAN, WHO IS A YEAR OLDER THAN ME, AND MY FRIEND ANDREW YOUNG, AND THREE OTHER TEENS, WE WERE RIDING OUR BIKES ALONG THE AVENUE, WHICH IS A BEAUTIFUL STREET AND HAS LOVELY HOMES, AND WHEN WE GOT TO THE END THEY HAVE A CITY PARK.

BEAUTIFUL.

LUSH GREEN PARK.

AND WE LOOKED IN, AND WE WANTED TO GO IN BUT WE KNEW THAT WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO.

BUT I GUESS THAT WE HAD THOUGHT NOBODY IS GOING TO SEE US, AND WHAT HARM WE WILL BE DOING SO WE ROLLED IN AND WE WEREN'T -- WE PEDDLED A FEW YARDS WHEN HERE COMES THE POLICEMAN WHO SHOOK HIS BILLY CLUB AND SAID YOU GET OUT.

YOU LITTLE N'S, YOU DON'T BELONG HERE.

AND OF COURSE, WE WERE CRUSHED.

EVEN THOUGH WE KNEW BETTER.

AND WE LEFT.

BUT THIS INTERESTING THING IS WHEN WE GOT OUT OF THE PARK AND AWAY FROM IT, WE SAID WE ARE NOT GOING TO TELL OUR PARENTS.

BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE DID NOT OBEY THEM.

AND WE DID NOT TELL THEM UNTIL YEARS LATER WHEN, OF COURSE, SOCIETY HAD CHANGED.

THE LAWS HAD CHANGED.

AND AS I WRITE JIM CROW WAS ON THE RUN.

AS A WOMAN YOU MADE YOUR DEBUT IN NEW ORLEANS.

I DID.

SO YOU HAD MANY OPPORTUNITIES.

YOU COULDN'T SHOP IN SOME OF THE SHOPS.

THAT'S RIGHT.

THEY WOULD NOT LET YOU TRY ON CLOTHES.

SOME OF THE PEOPLE WOULD SAY TAKE IT HOME AND IF IT'S NOT RIGHT TAKE IT BACK.

AND I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS OFF TO COLLEGE MY MOTHER TOOK ME TO SHOP, AND IT WAS ALWAYS WITH HER SELECTED SALESPERSONS.

AND SHE WAS NOT IN THAT DAY, AND SHE SAID I AM GOING TO LET YOU TRY IT ON BUT SHE PUT ME IN THE JANITOR'S CLOSET, AND SHE SAID NEVER MIND.

WE DON'T WANT THEM.

YOU WENT TO COLLEGE.

FIRST TO XAVIER.

BUT THEN YOU DECIDED TO GO UP NORTH, AND TELL US ABOUT THAT TRAIN RIDE UP TO BOSTON.

MY DAD BROUGHT ME TO THE TRAIN STATION.

WE WENT IN THE COLORED ENTRANCE.

WHEN THE TRAIN WAS CALLED WE WENT OUT TO GET ON THE TRAIN.

NOW I KNEW THAT IT WOULD BE SEGREGATED.

I HAD THE SAME -- MY PARENTS HAD TOLD ME THAT WE WOULD BE IN A SPECIAL CAR.

WE WERE PUT IN THE BAGGAGE CAR, A CAR DIVIDED HALF BAGGAGE AND HALF PASSENGERS.

AS WE WENT UP THE PLATFORM, THEY SAID COME IN THIS DOOR.

TO KEEP US FROM GOING FARTHER DOWN AND BEING FURTHER HUMILIATED.

WHEN YOU GET UP TO UP TO THE TOP TURN RIGHT, AND THAT'S THE CAR THAT YOU WILL BE IN.

AND THIS WAS HALF A CAR.

AND I KNEW THAT IT WAS -- I DIDN'T KNOW THEN, BUT I SAT DOWN.

WHEN THE CAR FILLED WE WERE ALL BLACK.

AND SO I SAID WELL, HERE WE ARE.

OTHER PEOPLE THINK THAT WE BELONG BUT MORE THAN THAT, MORE THAN BEING SEGREGATED, WHEN THE CONDUCTOR CAME TO GET OUR TICKETS, I ASKED HIM ABOUT DINNER, AND MY PARENTS TOLD ME THAT I COULD EAT IN THE DINING ROOM.

THAT WAS A NEW LAW.

IN 1948 TRAVEL INTERSTATE BETWEEN STATES SEGREGATED TRAVEL ON THE TRAINS WAS PROHIBITED.

SO WE COULD GO TO THE DINING ROOM, BUT THAT WAS AN EXPERIENCE WALKING THROUGH SEVERAL CARS TO THE DINING ROOM, AND I GOT THERE, AND THEY ESCORTED ME TO THIS TABLE.

AND AFTER I WAS SEATED THEY PULLED A CURTAIN AROUND ME.

AND THAT TABLE WAS FOR NEGROES.

AND I GUESS THE WHITE PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE TO LOOK AT US.

WHEN YOU ARRIVED IN BOSTON AND YOU ARE AT THE UNIVERSITY YOU DISCOVER THAT YOU CAN GO TO ALL SORTS OF THINGS IN THE CITY BECAUSE YOU LIKE OPERA AND YOU LOVE MUSEUMS, RIGHT?

YES.

AND SEE I KNEW THAT BECAUSE WE TRAVELED A LOT WITH MY FATHER.

MY FATHER WOULD GO TO THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION MEETING, AND HE PUT US IN THE CAR AND WE WOULD GO, AND SOMETIMES WE WOULD GO ON THE TRAIN.

AND SO I KNEW WHAT THE NORTH WAS, IT WAS FREE.

YOU CAN GO TO A RESTAURANT.

YOU COULD GO TO MUSEUMS.

AND SO I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT IN BOSTON.

AND I PARTICIPATED IN EVERYTHING THAT I WANTED TO.

I SAW MY FIRST THEATER MUSICAL, OKLAHOMA, I WILL NEVER FORGET, IT WAS WONDERFUL.

I COULD GO TO THE MUSEUMS WITHOUT IT ANY FEAR OF BEING REJECTED OR HUMILIATED SO I LOVED BOSTON.

YOUR BOOK, WITNESS TO CHANGE, TALKS ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY IF YOU WILL, NOT ONLY FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND BROADENING YOUR EXPERIENCES, BUT YOU, OF COURSE, WERE PERSONAL FRIENDS WITH THE LEADERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

ARE YOU RELATED TO ANDREW YOUNG OR BEST FRIENDS?

BEST FRIENDS BECAUSE OUR MOTHERS WERE FRIENDLY, AND AS I SAY IN MY BOOK BECAUSE WE WERE DEPRIVED OR GOING TO PUBLIC PLACES, THEY MADE EVENTS TO HAPPEN.

WE HAD FAMILY PICNICS.

WE HAD EASTER EGG HUNDREDS ON THE CAMPUS.

AND THEY SAW THAT WE WENT TO DILLARDS AND XAVIER TO HEAR ANN MILLER AND TO HEAR NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AFRICAN-AMERICANS.

YOU NAME TO KNOW MARTIN LUTHER KING.

YES, HE WAS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY WHEN I WAS IN UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL.

MANY OF THE BLACK STUDENTS IN ALL OF THE AREA SCHOOLS KNEW EACH OTHER THROUGH FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES AND THROUGH FAMILY NETWORKS.

WE HAD SO MANY THINGS IN COMMON.

SO WE ALL KNEW EACH OTHER.

AND WE TALKED ABOUT THE SOUTH AND TALKED ABOUT THE FREEDOM OF THE NORTH.

WE TALKED ABOUT THE SOUTH HAD TO CHANGE, THAT WAS 1950, SO THAT'S WHEN THE CIVIL RIGHTS CASES WERE BEFORE THE COURTS.

BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT.

AND SO WHEN THE BROWN VERSUS BOARD OF EDUCATION TOPEKA WAS DECLARED, AND THE SUPREME COURT RENDERED THE DECISION UNANIMOUS DECISION, THAT WAS A THRILL THAT SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

WE ALL, THOSE OF US FROM THE SOUTH FROM JACKSONVILLE, FROM ATLANTA WHERE MARTIN WAS FROM, FROM RICHMOND AND FROM MEMPHIS, WE WANTED TO GO BACK HOME.

BECAUSE WE WANTED TO BE A PART OF CHANGE.

WE KNEW CHANGE WAS COMING.

WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WOULD BE, BUT WE WANTED TO BE THAT, AND WE ALL CAME BACK.

MARTIN WAS A BIG -- HE SAID I AM GOING BACK.

I AM GOING BACK TO HEAD A CHURCH IN ALABAMA.

DURING THIS PERIOD OF TIME YOU MET YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND.

HAD TO COME BACK HOME NOW.

YOU CAME BACK HOME.

THAT'S ONE OF THE PLUSES OF COMING HOME.

IT WAS.

WHEN DID YOU AND DUTCH FIRST MEET?

WE KNEW EACH OTHER PERIPHERALLY IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE.

WHEN I CAME HOME, I CALLED MY FRIEND LIDIA, AND I SAID WHAT'S UP?

WHAT'S ON THE SOCIAL SCENE?

SHE SAID OUR BOOKS CLUB IS MEETING AT MY HOME TONIGHT SO COME.

WE ESTABLISHED OUR OWN BOOK CLUB BECAUSE WE WERE REJECTED AT THE NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC LIBRARY SO WE DID OUR OWN, THE BEST THING ABOUT IT IS WE COULD SELECT OUR OWN BOOKS.

SO WE MET, WE WOULD MEET, TALK ABOUT THE BOOK, AND WE WOULD SOCIALIZE AFTER.

SO THAT'S VERY, THAT VERY NIGHT WEB THE BOOK, DEBOIS, YOU KNOW HE WAS A LEADER BACK IN THE TEENS AND 1920s AND 1930s, THAT'S WHAT WE DISCUSSED, AND IT WAS DUTCH, AND I SAID HI.

BUT EVERYBODY HAD LEFT, AND HE LINGERED, AND I LINGERED SO WE WERE WALKING OUT TOGETHER.

AND WE WERE TALKING ABOUT BROWN.

WE WERE NOT TALKING ABOUT DEBOIS'S BOOK, SO WE GOT SO ANIMATED DISCUSSING THAT.

HE SAID WELL, LET'S TALK SOME MORE ABOUT IT.

SO HE TOOK ME TO A NIGHT CLUB.

WE TALKED UNTIL WE WERE JUST SO FULL AND EXCITED ABOUT IT.

AND HE SAID THIS CONVERSATION IS NOT OVER.

CONTINUED TOMORROW.

SO OUR RELATIONSHIP -- WE SAW EACH OTHER EVERY NIGHT AFTER THAT.

THAT'S ALL WE TALKED ABOUT.

WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND'S CAREER.

HE WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN GRADUATE FROM LSU LAW SCHOOL, I THINK.

AND HE WAS ALWAYS THE FIRST WHEREVER HE WAS, THE LEGISLATURE.

WAS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE?

AND AS A JUDGE.

YES.

THERE WAS PRESSURE BECAUSE WE WERE GETTING REACTIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY.

WE WERE GETTING HATE CALLS.

AND WE WERE GETTING THREATS, AND SO IT WAS -- IT WAS DIFFICULT BECAUSE I HAD YOUNG CHILDREN.

WHEN WE GOT THE PHONE THREATS, WHICH WERE VERY CONSTANT DURING THE TIME THAT HE WAS RUNNING FOR THE LEGISLATURE AND THE TIME THAT HE WAS IN THE LEGISLATURE, AT THAT TIME THERE WAS A COMMUNIST THREAT, STILL A COMMUNIST THREAT, AND SO THAT WAS A BUZZ WORD, YOU KNOW, THEY CALLED HIM, AND COMMUNIST.

SO I HAD TO PROTECT MY CHILDREN BECAUSE THEY WOULD RUN TO ANSWER THE TELEPHONE.

I SAID YOU KNOW, THIS VOICE WOULD COME OUT RASPY NOT ONLY MAKING RACIAL SLURS BUT ALSO HORRIBLE LANGUAGE, YOU KNOW, JUST UNACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE.

YOU HELPED IN THE CAMPAIGNING FOR MAYOR AND EVERYTHING.

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN THE CAMPAIGN?

WELL, I TELL YOU WHAT, BEFORE THAT I WAS -- I FOUNDED AN ORGANIZATION THAT -- I WAS INTERESTED IN VOTER EDUCATION, WHICH CONSISTED OF VOTER REGISTRATION, WHICH WAS REALLY LONG AND HUMILIATING PROCESS.

COULD HAVE BEEN.

BUT WE NEEDED TO EDUCATE OURSELVES ABOUT ALL OF THE ASPECTS OF GOVERNMENT, SO WE COULD EDUCATE THE PUBLIC WE WERE DEALING WITH.

THE BIG THING THAT WE DID WAS WE HAD FOUR UNITS IN THE CITY.

ONE AT GUS HOLMES, THE FIRST SENIOR CITIZENS HOUSE FOR BLACKS IN THE CITY, BUT WE WENT TO BLACK CHURCHES.

WE WOULD GO THROUGH THE REGISTRATION PROCESS, WHICH WAS A CITIZENSHIP TEST.

A HITRACY -- LITERACY TEST, TEACHING THEM TO BE CONFIDENT BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL TO BE HUMILIATED.

THAT'S SOMETHING THAT GETS TO BE INSTINCTIVE.

SO WE DID THAT IN FOUR AREAS IN THE CITY.

SO I KNEW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PEOPLE, AND I KNEW MANY OF THE PEOPLE.

AND SO WHEN DUTCH RAN FOR THE STATE LEGISLATURE, I ESTABLISHED PHONE BANKS WHERE WE CALLED PEOPLE TO ASK THEM IF THEY WERE REGISTERED VOTERS, IF THEY WERE INTERESTED, AND THEY COULD COME TO ONE OF OUR WORKSHOPS.

AND THEN A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE ELECTION WE WOULD CALL THEM.

WE CALLED, DID YOU VOTE TODAY?

SO SYBIL I HAVE TO ASK YOU, HAVE YOU EVER REGRETTED NOT RUNNING FOR OFFICE YOURSELF?

NO.

I LIKE WHAT I WAS DOING.

I WAS AN EDUCATOR.

I WAS A CLASSROOM TEACHER FOR 13 YEARS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND MARYLAND AND LOUISIANA.

AND THEN I WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY, XAVIER UNIVERSITY FOR 28 YEARS, AND I LOVED WHAT I WAS DOING.

I LOVED WORKING WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE.

SO NO, I NEVER -- I NEVER ASPIRED TO THAT.

BUT I COULD BE IN THE BACKGROUND DOING THINGS THAT WOULD PROMOTE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

LOOKING BACK ACROSS ALL OF THAT YOU HAVE DONE RESEARCH ON YOUR EARLY HISTORY THAT I FOUND FASCINATING.

YOUR ROOTS, YOU THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE FRENCH IN SOME WAYS.

AND AFRICAN.

AND FROM SIN GAL, PERHAPS, BUT YOU DISCOVERED INTERESTING THINGS, DIDN'T YOU?

YES.

WE HAD A FAMILY REUNION.

I HAD A FAMILY REUNION, WHICH IS MY FATHER'S NAME.

WHEN I WAS WRITING THE BOOK THIS RESEARCH WAS BEING DONE FOR LITNY -- WHITNEY PLANTATION ON THE GERMAN COAST.

MANY GERMANS HAD SETTLED THERE.

AND THAT IS WHERE MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS BORN.

THE FATHER OF MY GRANDFATHER, WHICH IS NOT THAT MUCH -- NOT SO LONG IN THE PAST.

AND HE WAS THE SON OF A HOUSE SERVANT AND THE BROTHER OF THE MISTRESS OF THE PLANTATION.

WE HAD HEARD A TRADITION WAS TO GO TO THE GRAVEYARD WHERE MY GRANDPARENTS AND UNCLES AND GRAND UNCLES AND ALL THAT ARE BURIED ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, THERE WAS A PICNIC.

WE BROUGHT FOOD BECAUSE WE SAT WHEN, BUT IT WAS A REUNION WITH ALL OF THE COUSINS, YOU KNOW, AND WE PLAYED AROUND IN THE GRAVEYARD.

AND WE WOULD HEAR THE OLDER COUSINS TALKING ABOUT VICTOR AND CELESTE AND THESE NAMES.

BUT THEY NEVER SAID SLAVE.

THAT NAME, THAT WORD NEVER CAME OUT.

AND AS I REFLECT ON IT IT WAS EITHER OR BOTH, SHAME AND PAIN.

AFTER SLAVERY WAS DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL, RECONSTRUCTION CAME, AND THEY ESTABLISHED THE SCHOOLS FOR THE EX SLAVES AND FOR THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR.

BEFORE THAT, THE SLAVES WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LEARN TO READ.

THE SCHOOLS WENT UP TO FIFTH GRADE SO MY FATHER WAS THE OLDEST OF NINE CHILDREN OF ONE OF THOSE SONS OF THE SLAVE, THE SLAVES.

AND SO HIS FATHER HAD TO SEND HIM TO NEW ORLEANS TO FINISH HIS EDUCATION.

TO FINISH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL AND EVEN COLLEGE, AND HE WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL BUT HE COULDN'T GO TO LSU OR TO TULANE, BLACK PEOPLE DIDN'T GO TO THE SAME SCHOOLS AS WHITE PEOPLE.

HE HAD TO TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON D.C.

TO HOWARD UNIVERSITY.

AND THE STRANGE THING IS A GENERATION LATER WHEN MY BROTHER WAS GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL, WHICH WAS BEFORE OR DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA, THE STATE PAID HIM A STIPEND FOR HIS MEDICAL EDUCATION.

IT WAS -- I GUESS IT WAS SO OUT OF AN APOLOGY A MAKEUP BECAUSE PEOPLE'S CONSCIENCE WAS BEING RAISED ABOUT HOW UNFAIR THIS WAS.

SO WHEN YOU LOOK BACK OVER THIS HISTORY AS WE ARE WITNESSING CHANGE, AND YOU SEE THROUGH THE LENS OF MATURITY, I SUPPOSE, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR GRAND CHIPPER ARE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN ARE THINKING?

I AM NOT SURE.

I GAVE EACH OF THEM A BOOK.

THEY HAVE READ IT, BUT I WANT THEM TO READ PARTS OF IT AND ASK ME QUESTIONS.

NOW MY CHILDREN WILL VERY MUCH WERE A PART OF IT AND SORT OF DIRECTED THEIR CAREERS.

IN THERE, IN THEIR DIFFERENT CAREERS, THEY ARE PERFORMING SERVICES.

THEY ARE -- THEY ARE AWARE OF INEQUITIES DURING THEIR TIME.

THEY ARE A PART OF THAT CHANGE.

I AM SO PLEASED WITH THAT, AND IT WAS THEIR OWN CHOICES.

CERTAINLY YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH HAS HELPED YOU THROUGH THIS, TOO, AND DO YOU THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS HOLDING ONTO THROUGH THESE GENERATIONS?

I THINK SO.

AND I THINK THAT PARTICULARLY MY CHILDREN'S GENERATION THEY SAW THE BLACK CHURCH WAS A STRONG-HOLD OF CHANGE, AND THAT IN THESE CHURCHES THEY WERE ENCOURAGED TO BE STRONG AND TO BE BRAVE, AND THIS IS TEMPORARY.

THIS IS A HARD TIME, BUT WE ARE GOING TO REACH THE PROMISE LAND.

WE KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE CHANGE.

SO IN THOSE CHURCHES YOU WERE NOURISHED WITH THAT CONCEPT, YOU KNOW.

YOU DIDN'T GET THAT IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH BECAUSE IT'S VERY RITUAL ORIENTED.

SO THEY LEARNED -- BECAUSE MY CHILDREN WENT TO THE CHURCHES WITH MY HUSBAND WHEN HE WAS CAMPAIGNING, AND EVEN AFTER HE BECAME MAYOR.

THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH THAT.

THEY WOULD TAG ALONG, AND THEY WERE IN HIS LIFE MORE THAN HE WAS IN THEIR LIFE BECAUSE HE WAS BUSY ALL THE TIME.

AND I WORRIED ABOUT THAT.

BUT SHE WAS A STRONG FATHER.

HE WAS A STRONG MENTOR, AND HE WAS A STRONG MODEL FOR THEM.

WELL, SYBIL, YOU ARE A STRONG MODEL FOR ALL OF US.

A TEACHER.

AN AUTHORES AND ANOTHER BOOK COMING OUT, AND WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON BEING A LOUISIANA LEGEND.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR VISITING WITH US.

WE APPRECIATE IT.

I HAVE ENJOYED IT SO MUCH AND I AM TRULY HONORED BY BEING NAMED A LOUISIANA LEGEND.

THANK YOU.

AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

GOOD EVENING.

SINCE 1923 ROY O. MARTIN, A LOUISIANA-BASED WOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY HAS FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLE OF HIS FOUNDER TO GIVE BACK TO OUR LOUISIANA COMMUNITIES WHERE WE LIVE AND WORK.

TO LEARN MORE VISIT ROYOMARTIN.COM.

THE LOUISIANA LOTTERY IS PROUD TO JOIN LPB IN HONORING THE 2018 LOUISIANA LEGENDS, CONTRIBUTING OVER 3.5 BILLION FOR K-12 PUBLIC EDUCATION.

THE LOTTERY IS GIVING LOUISIANA A REASON TO SMILE.

SUPPORT FOR THE 2018 LOUISIANA LEGENDS COMES FROM WILLIS KNIGHTEN, A LOCALLY OWNED AND LOCALLY NONPROFIT HEALTH SYSTEM SERVING PATIENTS SINCE 1924.

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