0:00:00.796,0:00:02.598
Leah Chase: Oh, this is beautiful.

0:00:03.305,0:00:05.321
Oh, gosh, I never saw such a room

0:00:05.345,0:00:08.417
and beauty and strength[br]like I'm looking at.

0:00:08.441,0:00:10.575
That's gorgeous. It is.

0:00:10.599,0:00:12.902
It is a beautiful room.

0:00:12.926,0:00:17.210
Pat Mitchell: I almost said your age,[br]because you gave me permission,

0:00:17.234,0:00:19.909
but I realized that I was[br]about to make you a year older.

0:00:19.933,0:00:21.448
You're only 94.

0:00:21.750,0:00:23.099
(Laughter)

0:00:23.123,0:00:24.727
(Applause)

0:00:24.751,0:00:26.534
LC: Yeah, I'm only 94.

0:00:26.558,0:00:27.958
(Applause)

0:00:27.982,0:00:32.068
I mean, you get this old[br]and parts start wearing out.

0:00:32.092,0:00:33.838
Your legs start wearing out.

0:00:34.206,0:00:36.719
The one thing that my children always say:

0:00:36.743,0:00:38.545
"But nothing happened to your mouth."

0:00:38.569,0:00:41.006
(Laughter)

0:00:41.030,0:00:44.125
So you've got to have something going,[br]so I've got my mouth going.

0:00:44.149,0:00:45.895
(Laughter)

0:00:46.664,0:00:48.917
PM: So Mrs. Chase,[br]the first time we were there,

0:00:48.941,0:00:53.087
I brought a group of young women,[br]who work with us at TED,

0:00:53.111,0:00:54.271
into the kitchen,

0:00:54.295,0:00:57.295
and we were all standing around[br]and you had already cooked lunch

0:00:57.319,0:00:59.389
for hundreds of people,[br]as you do every day,

0:00:59.413,0:01:01.326
and you looked up at them.

0:01:01.350,0:01:05.421
You have to share with this audience[br]what you said to those young women.

0:01:06.015,0:01:09.188
LC: Well, you know,[br]I talk to young women all the time,

0:01:09.212,0:01:12.222
and it's beginning to bother me,

0:01:12.246,0:01:14.433
because look how far I came.

0:01:14.457,0:01:20.767
I'd come with women[br]that had to really hustle and work hard

0:01:20.791,0:01:24.021
and they knew how to be women.

0:01:24.706,0:01:28.523
They didn't play that man down.

0:01:28.547,0:01:32.075
And, well, we didn't have[br]the education you have today,

0:01:32.099,0:01:33.725
and God, I'm so proud

0:01:33.749,0:01:38.138
when I see those women[br]with all that education under their belt.

0:01:38.162,0:01:39.475
That's why I worked hard,

0:01:39.499,0:01:43.451
tried to get everybody[br]to use those resources.

0:01:43.793,0:01:47.328
So they just don't know their power,

0:01:47.352,0:01:51.002
and I always tell them,[br]just look at my mother,

0:01:51.026,0:01:53.471
had 12 girls before she had a boy.

0:01:53.495,0:01:54.669
(Laughter)

0:01:54.693,0:01:56.161
So you know how I came out.

0:01:56.185,0:01:57.407
(Laughter)

0:01:57.431,0:01:58.986
Now, she had 14 children.

0:01:59.010,0:02:03.058
She raised 11 of us out of that 14,

0:02:03.082,0:02:06.021
and up until last year,[br]we were all still living,

0:02:06.045,0:02:08.294
a bunch of old biddies,[br]but we're still here.

0:02:08.318,0:02:09.644
(Laughter)

0:02:09.668,0:02:13.899
And sometimes we can be just cantankerous[br]and blah blah blah blah blah,

0:02:13.923,0:02:15.390
but we still go.

0:02:15.948,0:02:18.820
And I love to see women.

0:02:18.844,0:02:20.956
You don't know what it does for me

0:02:20.980,0:02:24.448
to see women in the position[br]that you're in today.

0:02:24.999,0:02:26.913
I never thought I'd see that.

0:02:26.937,0:02:29.278
I never sought I'd see women

0:02:29.302,0:02:34.596
be able to take places[br]and positions that we have today.

0:02:34.620,0:02:36.500
It is just a powerful thing.

0:02:36.901,0:02:38.877
I had a young woman come to me.

0:02:39.328,0:02:41.179
She was an African-American woman.

0:02:41.998,0:02:44.085
And I said, "Well, what do you do, honey?"

0:02:44.824,0:02:49.069
She said, "I am a retired Navy pilot."

0:02:49.927,0:02:52.571
Oh God, that just melted me,

0:02:52.595,0:02:58.140
because I knew how hard it was[br]to integrate that Navy.

0:02:58.643,0:03:04.291
You know, the Navy was the last thing[br]to really be integrated,

0:03:04.315,0:03:08.542
and that was done by Franklin Roosevelt

0:03:08.566,0:03:13.090
as a favor to an African-American man,

0:03:13.114,0:03:15.489
Lester Granger, that I knew very well.

0:03:15.513,0:03:19.504
He was the head of the National[br]Urban League back there,

0:03:19.528,0:03:21.807
and when Roosevelt asked him,

0:03:21.831,0:03:27.086
he wanted to appoint Lester[br]as maybe one of his cabinet members.

0:03:27.110,0:03:29.445
Lester said, "No, I don't want that.

0:03:29.469,0:03:32.794
All I want you to do[br]is integrate that Navy."

0:03:33.675,0:03:36.112
And that was what Franklin did.

0:03:36.136,0:03:38.136
Well, Franklin didn't live to do it,

0:03:38.160,0:03:39.816
but Truman did it.

0:03:39.840,0:03:42.438
But when this woman told me,

0:03:42.462,0:03:45.621
"I have flown everything there is to fly,"

0:03:45.645,0:03:49.238
bombers, just all kinds of planes,

0:03:49.262,0:03:52.603
it just melted me, you know,

0:03:52.627,0:03:55.647
just to see how far women have come.

0:03:55.671,0:03:56.913
And I told her, I said,

0:03:56.937,0:04:00.105
"Well, you could get[br]into the space program."

0:04:00.129,0:04:02.304
She said, "But Ms. Chase, I'm too old."

0:04:02.328,0:04:04.804
She was already 60-some years old,

0:04:04.828,0:04:07.828
and, you know, you're over the hill then.

0:04:07.852,0:04:10.201
(Laughter)

0:04:10.225,0:04:13.686
They don't want you flying[br]up in the sky at 60-something years old.

0:04:13.710,0:04:14.962
Stay on the ground.

0:04:14.986,0:04:18.312
When I meet women,

0:04:18.336,0:04:20.757
and today everybody comes to my kitchen,

0:04:20.781,0:04:22.280
and you know that,

0:04:22.304,0:04:24.511
and it upsets Stella, my daughter.

0:04:24.535,0:04:26.811
She doesn't like people[br]coming in the kitchen.

0:04:26.835,0:04:28.297
But that's where I am,

0:04:28.321,0:04:31.162
and that's where you're going[br]to see me, in the kitchen.

0:04:31.186,0:04:34.185
So when they come there,[br]I meet all kinds of people.

0:04:34.209,0:04:37.321
And that is the thing[br]that really uplifts me,

0:04:37.345,0:04:39.694
is when I meet women on the move.

0:04:40.463,0:04:44.741
When I meet women on the move,[br]it is good for me.

0:04:44.765,0:04:47.459
Now, I'm not one of these[br]flag-waving women.

0:04:47.483,0:04:49.877
You're not going to see me[br]out there waving.

0:04:49.901,0:04:51.924
No, I don't do that.

0:04:51.948,0:04:52.956
(Laughter)

0:04:52.980,0:04:56.003
No, I don't do that, and I don't want[br]any of you to do that.

0:04:56.027,0:04:57.758
Just be good women.

0:04:58.284,0:05:00.721
And you know, my mother taught us ...

0:05:00.745,0:05:03.173
she was tough on us,

0:05:03.197,0:05:04.880
and she said, "You know, Leah,"

0:05:04.904,0:05:07.309
she gave us all this plaque,

0:05:07.333,0:05:11.381
"to be a good woman,[br]you have to first look like a girl."

0:05:11.405,0:05:14.032
Well, I thought I looked like a girl.

0:05:14.056,0:05:15.577
"Act like a lady."

0:05:15.601,0:05:17.168
That, I never learned to do.

0:05:17.192,0:05:19.066
(Laughter)

0:05:19.090,0:05:21.051
"Think like a man.

0:05:21.075,0:05:25.104
Now don't act like that man.[br]Think like a man and work like a dog."

0:05:25.128,0:05:27.318
(Laughter)

0:05:27.342,0:05:30.075
So we learned that the hard way.

0:05:30.099,0:05:31.986
And they taught you that.

0:05:32.010,0:05:35.132
They taught you what women had to do.

0:05:35.156,0:05:39.517
We were taught that women[br]controlled the behavior of men.

0:05:39.914,0:05:42.421
How you act, they will act.

0:05:43.064,0:05:46.255
So you've got to do that,[br]and I tell you all the time.

0:05:46.279,0:05:49.264
You know, don't play this man down.

0:05:49.288,0:05:53.079
It upsets me when you may have a husband

0:05:53.103,0:05:59.411
that maybe he doesn't have as much[br]education under his belt as you have,

0:05:59.435,0:06:02.514
but still you can't play him down.

0:06:03.149,0:06:05.237
You've got to keep lifting him up,

0:06:05.261,0:06:07.561
because you don't want[br]to live with a mouse.

0:06:07.585,0:06:11.787
So you want that man to be a man[br]and do what he has to do.

0:06:12.478,0:06:14.741
And anyway, always remember,

0:06:14.765,0:06:16.789
he runs on cheap gas.

0:06:16.813,0:06:19.119
(Laughter)

0:06:19.143,0:06:21.558
So fill him up with cheap gas --

0:06:21.582,0:06:23.454
(Laughter)

0:06:23.478,0:06:25.010
and then, you got him.

0:06:25.034,0:06:26.371
It's just so --

0:06:26.395,0:06:29.034
(Laughter)

0:06:29.058,0:06:30.414
It's just --

0:06:30.438,0:06:32.812
PM: You have to give us[br]a minute to take that in.

0:06:32.836,0:06:35.392
(Laughter)

0:06:35.416,0:06:39.409
LC: When I heard this young lady[br]speak before I came out --

0:06:39.433,0:06:41.964
she was so beautiful,

0:06:41.988,0:06:44.186
and I wished I could be like that,

0:06:44.210,0:06:45.687
and my husband, poor darling --

0:06:45.711,0:06:48.735
I lost him after[br]we were married 70 years --

0:06:48.759,0:06:50.636
didn't agree on one thing,

0:06:50.660,0:06:53.227
never did, nothing,

0:06:53.251,0:06:54.672
but we got along together

0:06:54.696,0:06:57.228
because he learned to understand me,

0:06:57.252,0:06:59.363
and that was just hard,

0:06:59.387,0:07:01.411
because he was so different.

0:07:01.435,0:07:03.166
And that lady reminded me.

0:07:03.190,0:07:05.948
I said, "If I would have[br]just been like her,

0:07:05.972,0:07:08.265
Dooky would have really loved it."

0:07:08.289,0:07:10.731
(Laughter)

0:07:10.755,0:07:11.916
But I wasn't.

0:07:11.940,0:07:13.813
I was always pushy, always moving,

0:07:13.837,0:07:15.272
always doing this,

0:07:15.296,0:07:18.502
and he used to come to me[br]all the time, and he said,

0:07:18.526,0:07:20.193
"Honey, God's going to punish you."

0:07:20.217,0:07:21.766
(Laughter)

0:07:21.790,0:07:23.894
"You -- you're just not grateful."

0:07:23.918,0:07:26.131
But it isn't that I'm not grateful,

0:07:26.155,0:07:29.552
but I think, as long as you're living,[br]you've got to keep moving,

0:07:29.576,0:07:31.420
you've got to keep trying to get up

0:07:31.444,0:07:32.901
and do what you've got to do.

0:07:32.925,0:07:33.926
(Applause)

0:07:33.950,0:07:35.124
You cannot sit down.

0:07:35.148,0:07:37.052
You have to keep going,

0:07:37.076,0:07:39.894
keep trying to do a little bit every day.

0:07:39.918,0:07:41.620
Every day, you do a little bit,

0:07:41.644,0:07:43.069
try to make it better.

0:07:43.093,0:07:44.866
And that's been my whole life.

0:07:44.890,0:07:48.354
Well, I came up[br]in the country, small town,

0:07:48.378,0:07:50.744
had to do everything,[br]had to haul the water,

0:07:50.768,0:07:53.306
had to wash the clothes, do this, do that,

0:07:53.330,0:07:55.996
pick the dumb strawberries,[br]all that kind of stuff,

0:07:56.020,0:07:57.021
(Laughter)

0:07:57.045,0:08:02.322
but still, my daddy insisted[br]that we act nice,

0:08:02.346,0:08:03.762
we be kind.

0:08:03.786,0:08:05.024
And that's all.

0:08:05.048,0:08:06.614
When I heard this young woman --

0:08:06.638,0:08:09.099
oh, she sounds so beautiful --

0:08:09.123,0:08:11.901
I said, "I wish I could be like that."

0:08:11.925,0:08:15.134
PM: Mrs. Chase, we don't want you[br]to be any different than you are.

0:08:15.158,0:08:16.689
There is no question about that.

0:08:16.713,0:08:18.337
Let me ask you.

0:08:18.361,0:08:20.837
This is why it's so wonderful[br]to have a conversation

0:08:20.861,0:08:22.941
with someone who has a long view --

0:08:22.965,0:08:24.116
LC: A long time.

0:08:24.140,0:08:25.490
PM: to remembering Roosevelt

0:08:25.514,0:08:27.318
and the person he did that favor for.

0:08:27.342,0:08:30.272
What is in your head and your mind

0:08:30.296,0:08:32.222
and what you have seen and witnessed ...

0:08:32.246,0:08:37.629
One of the things that it's good[br]to remember, always,

0:08:37.653,0:08:40.432
is that when you opened that restaurant,

0:08:40.456,0:08:44.638
whites and blacks could not[br]eat together in this city.

0:08:45.041,0:08:46.664
It was against the law.

0:08:46.688,0:08:50.839
And yet they did, at Dooky Chase.[br]Tell me about that.

0:08:50.863,0:08:52.277
LC: They did, there.

0:08:52.301,0:08:54.336
Well, my mother-in-law first started this,

0:08:54.360,0:08:56.205
and the reason she started is,

0:08:56.229,0:09:03.226
because her husband was sickly,[br]and he would go out --

0:09:03.250,0:09:07.313
and people from Chicago[br]and all the places,

0:09:07.337,0:09:11.051
you would call his job a numbers runner.

0:09:11.931,0:09:15.097
But in New Orleans,[br]we are very sophisticated --

0:09:15.121,0:09:16.121
(Laughter)

0:09:16.145,0:09:17.852
so it wasn't a numbers runner,

0:09:17.876,0:09:19.932
it was a lottery vendor.

0:09:19.956,0:09:21.630
(Laughter)

0:09:21.654,0:09:23.663
So you see, we put class to that.

0:09:23.687,0:09:24.933
But that's how he did it.

0:09:24.957,0:09:29.999
And he couldn't go from house to house[br]to get his clients and all that,

0:09:30.023,0:09:31.461
because he was sick,

0:09:31.485,0:09:34.955
so she opened up[br]this little sandwich shop,

0:09:34.979,0:09:37.875
so she was going to take down the numbers,

0:09:37.899,0:09:40.486
because he was sick a lot.

0:09:40.510,0:09:44.371
He had ulcers. He was really bad[br]for a long a time.

0:09:44.395,0:09:45.731
So she did that --

0:09:45.755,0:09:48.549
and not knowing anything,

0:09:48.573,0:09:50.477
but she knew she could make a sandwich.

0:09:50.501,0:09:51.946
She knew she could cook,

0:09:51.970,0:09:55.779
and she borrowed 600 dollars[br]from a brewery.

0:09:56.274,0:10:00.749
Can you imagine starting[br]a business today with 600 dollars

0:10:00.773,0:10:03.241
and no knowledge of what you're doing?

0:10:03.789,0:10:07.975
And it always just amazed me[br]what she could do.

0:10:07.999,0:10:09.790
She was a good money manager.

0:10:09.814,0:10:11.281
That, I am not.

0:10:11.751,0:10:14.402
My husband used to call me[br]a bankrupt sister.

0:10:14.426,0:10:15.863
(Laughter)

0:10:15.887,0:10:17.523
"She'll spend everything you got."

0:10:17.547,0:10:18.925
And I would, you know.

0:10:18.949,0:10:21.059
PM: But you kept[br]the restaurant open, though,

0:10:21.083,0:10:25.569
even in those times of controversy,[br]when people were protesting

0:10:25.593,0:10:27.307
and almost boycotting.

0:10:27.331,0:10:30.902
I mean, it was a controversial move[br]that you and your husband made.

0:10:30.926,0:10:33.007
LC: It was, and I don't[br]know how we did it,

0:10:33.031,0:10:36.911
but as I said, my mother-in-law[br]was a kind, kind person,

0:10:36.935,0:10:41.748
and you didn't have any African-Americans[br]on the police force at that time.

0:10:41.772,0:10:43.361
They were all white.

0:10:43.385,0:10:45.235
But they would come around,

0:10:45.259,0:10:46.828
and she would say,

0:10:46.852,0:10:49.051
"[??], I'm gonna fix you[br]a little sandwich."

0:10:49.075,0:10:51.812
So she would fix them a sandwich.

0:10:51.836,0:10:53.831
Today they would call that bribery.

0:10:53.855,0:10:55.935
(Laughter)

0:10:55.959,0:10:58.623
But she was just that kind of person.

0:10:58.647,0:11:00.246
She liked to do things for you.

0:11:00.270,0:11:01.929
She liked to give.

0:11:01.953,0:11:04.044
So she would do that,

0:11:04.068,0:11:05.453
and maybe that helped us out,

0:11:05.477,0:11:07.793
because nobody ever bothered us.

0:11:08.421,0:11:12.311
We had Jim Dombrowski, Albert Ben Smith,

0:11:12.335,0:11:17.292
who started all kinds of things[br]right in that restaurant,

0:11:17.316,0:11:18.922
and nobody every bothered us.

0:11:19.322,0:11:20.956
So we just did it.

0:11:20.980,0:11:22.131
PM: Excuse me.

0:11:22.155,0:11:24.238
You talked to me that day

0:11:24.262,0:11:28.507
about the fact that people considered[br]the restaurant a safe haven

0:11:28.531,0:11:30.238
where they could come together,

0:11:30.262,0:11:33.570
particularly if they were working[br]on civil rights,

0:11:33.594,0:11:34.864
human rights,

0:11:34.888,0:11:37.054
working to change the laws.

0:11:37.078,0:11:40.833
LC: Well, because once[br]you got inside those doors,

0:11:40.857,0:11:43.929
nobody ever, ever bothered you.

0:11:43.953,0:11:46.221
The police would never come in

0:11:46.245,0:11:48.761
and bother our customers, never.

0:11:49.083,0:11:51.496
So they felt safe to come there.

0:11:51.520,0:11:53.687
They could eat, they could plan.

0:11:53.711,0:11:55.417
All the Freedom Riders,

0:11:55.441,0:11:58.806
that's where they planned[br]all their meetings.

0:11:59.148,0:12:02.336
They would come and we would[br]serve them a bowl of gumbo

0:12:02.360,0:12:03.519
and fried chicken.

0:12:03.543,0:12:04.558
(Laughter)

0:12:04.582,0:12:07.689
So I said, we'd changed[br]the course of America

0:12:07.713,0:12:10.260
over a bowl of gumbo[br]and some fried chicken.

0:12:10.284,0:12:14.998
(Applause)

0:12:15.022,0:12:18.029
I would like to invite the leaders, now,

0:12:18.053,0:12:20.908
just come have a bowl of gumbo[br]and some fried chicken,

0:12:20.932,0:12:23.726
talk it over and we'd go[br]and we'd do what we have to do.

0:12:23.750,0:12:25.853
(Applause)

0:12:25.877,0:12:27.287
And that's all we did.

0:12:27.311,0:12:30.540
PM: Could we send you a list[br]to invite to lunch?

0:12:30.564,0:12:31.657
(Laughter)

0:12:31.681,0:12:32.897
LC: Yeah, invite.

0:12:32.921,0:12:35.070
Because that's what we're not doing.

0:12:35.094,0:12:36.946
We're not talking.

0:12:36.970,0:12:38.186
Come together.

0:12:38.210,0:12:41.567
I don't care if you're a Republican[br]or what you are -- come together.

0:12:41.591,0:12:42.781
Talk.

0:12:42.805,0:12:44.060
And I know those old guys.

0:12:44.084,0:12:45.704
I was friends with those old guys,

0:12:45.728,0:12:48.162
like Tip O'Neill and all of those people.

0:12:48.186,0:12:51.233
They knew how to come together and talk,

0:12:51.257,0:12:54.833
and you would disagree maybe.

0:12:54.857,0:12:56.134
That's OK.

0:12:56.158,0:12:59.138
But you would talk and we would come[br]to a good thing and meet.

0:12:59.162,0:13:02.017
And so that's what we did[br]in that restaurant.

0:13:02.041,0:13:05.151
They would plan the meeting,

0:13:05.175,0:13:08.254
Oretha's mother, Oretha Haley's mother.

0:13:08.278,0:13:09.920
She was big in CORE.

0:13:09.944,0:13:12.491
Her mother worked for me for 42 years.

0:13:13.306,0:13:15.306
And she was like me.

0:13:15.330,0:13:17.915
We didn't understand the program.

0:13:17.939,0:13:21.597
Nobody our age understood this program,

0:13:21.621,0:13:25.865
and we sure didn't want[br]our children to go to jail.

0:13:25.889,0:13:27.683
Oh, that was ... oh God.

0:13:27.707,0:13:30.496
But these young people[br]were willing to go to jail

0:13:30.520,0:13:31.762
for what they believed.

0:13:31.786,0:13:36.295
We were working with Thurgood[br]and A.P. Tureaud and all those people

0:13:36.319,0:13:38.169
with the NAACP.

0:13:38.193,0:13:40.172
But that was a slow move.

0:13:40.196,0:13:43.759
We would still be out here trying[br]to get in the door, waiting for them.

0:13:43.783,0:13:45.813
(Laughter)

0:13:45.837,0:13:48.252
PM: Is that Thurgood Marshall[br]you're talking about?

0:13:48.276,0:13:50.382
LC: Thurgood Marshall.[br]But I loved Thurgood.

0:13:50.406,0:13:51.892
He was a good movement.

0:13:51.916,0:13:56.432
They wanted to do this[br]without offending anybody.

0:13:56.456,0:13:58.209
I'll never forget A.P. Tureaud:

0:13:58.233,0:14:00.128
"But you can't offend the white people.

0:14:00.152,0:14:02.272
Don't offend them."

0:14:02.813,0:14:04.678
But these young people didn't care.

0:14:04.702,0:14:09.043
They said, "We're going.[br]Ready or not, we're going to do this."

0:14:09.455,0:14:11.566
And so we had to support them.

0:14:11.590,0:14:14.904
These were the children we knew,[br]righteous children.

0:14:14.928,0:14:16.554
We had to help them.

0:14:16.578,0:14:19.654
PM: And they brought the change.[br]LC: And they brought the change.

0:14:19.678,0:14:21.574
You know, it was hard,

0:14:21.598,0:14:24.757
but sometimes you do[br]hard things to make changes.

0:14:24.781,0:14:27.312
PM: And you've seen[br]so many of those changes.

0:14:27.336,0:14:29.145
The restaurant has been a bridge.

0:14:29.169,0:14:33.623
You have been a bridge[br]between the past and now,

0:14:33.647,0:14:36.131
but you don't live in the past, do you?

0:14:36.155,0:14:39.164
You live very much in the present.

0:14:39.188,0:14:42.389
LC: And that's what you have to tell[br]young people today.

0:14:42.413,0:14:44.398
OK, you can protest,

0:14:44.422,0:14:46.206
but put the past behind you.

0:14:46.601,0:14:51.244
I can't make you responsible[br]for what your grandfather did.

0:14:51.268,0:14:52.815
That's your grandfather.

0:14:52.839,0:14:54.784
I have to build on that.

0:14:54.808,0:14:56.062
I have to make changes.

0:14:56.086,0:14:58.514
I can't stay there and say,

0:14:58.538,0:15:00.537
"Oh, well, look what they did to us then.

0:15:00.561,0:15:01.944
Look what they do to us now."

0:15:01.968,0:15:03.655
And you remember that,

0:15:03.679,0:15:05.964
but that makes you keep going on,

0:15:05.988,0:15:08.436
but you don't harp on it every day.

0:15:08.460,0:15:09.624
You move,

0:15:09.648,0:15:11.512
and you move to make a difference,

0:15:11.536,0:15:15.334
and everybody should be involved.

0:15:15.358,0:15:16.573
My children said,

0:15:16.597,0:15:18.703
"Mother, don't get political," you know.

0:15:18.727,0:15:20.718
(Laughter)

0:15:20.742,0:15:23.798
"Don't get political, because you know[br]we don't like that."

0:15:23.822,0:15:26.521
But you have to be political today.

0:15:26.545,0:15:28.909
You have to be involved.

0:15:28.933,0:15:30.713
Be a part of the system.

0:15:30.737,0:15:34.031
Look how it was when we couldn't be[br]a part of the system.

0:15:34.055,0:15:37.721
When Dutch Morial became the mayor,

0:15:37.745,0:15:41.625
it was a different feeling[br]in the African-American community.

0:15:42.340,0:15:44.864
We felt a part of things.

0:15:44.888,0:15:46.398
Now we've got a mayor.

0:15:46.752,0:15:48.982
We feel like we belong.

0:15:49.006,0:15:52.287
Moon tried before Dutch came.

0:15:52.311,0:15:54.326
PM: Mayor Landrieu's father,[br]Moon Landrieu.

0:15:54.350,0:15:57.233
LC: Mayor Landrieu's father,[br]he took great, great risks

0:15:57.257,0:16:01.461
by putting African-Americans in city hall.

0:16:01.485,0:16:04.969
He took a whipping for that[br]for a long time,

0:16:04.993,0:16:07.248
but he was a visionary,

0:16:07.272,0:16:12.343
and he did those things that he knew[br]what's going to help the city.

0:16:12.367,0:16:14.652
He knew we had to get involved.

0:16:14.676,0:16:16.659
So that's what we have to do.

0:16:16.683,0:16:17.965
We don't harp on that.

0:16:17.989,0:16:19.573
We just keep moving,

0:16:19.597,0:16:22.953
and Mitch, you know,[br]I tell Moon all the time,

0:16:22.977,0:16:24.664
"You did a good thing,"

0:16:24.688,0:16:28.505
but Mitch did one bigger than you[br]and better than you.

0:16:28.529,0:16:30.257
When he pulled those statues down,

0:16:30.281,0:16:31.704
I said, "Boy, you're crazy!"

0:16:31.728,0:16:34.419
(Applause)

0:16:34.443,0:16:35.964
You're crazy.

0:16:35.988,0:16:39.982
But it was a good political move.

0:16:40.006,0:16:42.978
You know, when I saw[br]P.T. Beauregard come down,

0:16:43.002,0:16:46.026
I was sitting looking at the news,

0:16:46.050,0:16:49.617
and it just hit me[br]what this was all about.

0:16:50.527,0:16:54.732
To me, it wasn't about race,[br]it was a political move.

0:16:55.639,0:16:56.947
And I got so furious,

0:16:56.971,0:16:59.027
I got back on that kitchen[br]the next morning,

0:16:59.051,0:17:02.139
and I said, come on, pick up[br]your pants and let's go to work,

0:17:02.163,0:17:04.219
because you're going to get left behind.

0:17:04.243,0:17:05.752
And that's what you have to do.

0:17:05.776,0:17:07.506
You have to move on people,

0:17:07.530,0:17:09.268
move on what they do.

0:17:09.292,0:17:12.707
It was going to bring[br]visibility to the city.

0:17:12.731,0:17:16.648
So you got that visibility --[br]move on it, uplift yourself,

0:17:16.672,0:17:18.306
do what you have to do,

0:17:18.330,0:17:20.171
and do it well.

0:17:20.195,0:17:21.437
And that's all we do.

0:17:21.461,0:17:22.764
That's all I try to do.

0:17:22.788,0:17:26.950
PM: But you just gave[br]the formula for resilience. Right?

0:17:26.974,0:17:32.352
So you are clearly the best example[br]we could find anywhere of resilience,

0:17:32.376,0:17:34.615
so there must be something you think --

0:17:34.639,0:17:36.234
LC: I like emotional strength.

0:17:36.258,0:17:40.057
I like people with emotional[br]and physical strength,

0:17:40.081,0:17:42.723
and maybe that's bad for me.

0:17:43.910,0:17:48.102
My favorite all-time general[br]was George Patton.

0:17:48.752,0:17:50.936
You know, that wasn't too cool.

0:17:50.960,0:17:53.204
(Laughter)

0:17:53.228,0:17:54.420
PM: It's surprising.

0:17:54.444,0:17:57.973
LC: I got George Patton[br]hanging in my dining room

0:17:57.997,0:18:00.459
because I want to remember.

0:18:00.483,0:18:02.358
He set goals for himself

0:18:02.382,0:18:06.043
and he was going to set out[br]to reach those goals.

0:18:06.067,0:18:07.730
He never stopped.

0:18:07.754,0:18:10.051
And I always remember his words:

0:18:10.075,0:18:12.670
"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

0:18:13.203,0:18:14.709
Now, I can't lead --

0:18:14.733,0:18:15.875
(Applause)

0:18:15.899,0:18:17.681
I can't be a leader,

0:18:17.705,0:18:19.760
but I can follow a good leader,

0:18:19.784,0:18:22.101
but I am not getting out of the way.

0:18:22.125,0:18:28.462
(Applause)

0:18:28.486,0:18:30.563
If you can't get lead --

0:18:30.587,0:18:32.834
leaders need followers,

0:18:32.858,0:18:37.868
so if I help you up there,[br]I'm going to ride on your coattails,

0:18:37.892,0:18:40.742
and I can't count[br]the coattails I've ridden upon.

0:18:40.766,0:18:42.344
(Laughter)

0:18:42.368,0:18:44.018
Feed you good. You'll help me out.

0:18:44.042,0:18:45.132
(Laughter)

0:18:45.156,0:18:47.616
And that's what life is all about.

0:18:47.640,0:18:50.679
Everybody can do something,

0:18:50.703,0:18:53.000
but please get involved.

0:18:53.024,0:18:54.206
Do something.

0:18:54.230,0:18:58.745
The thing we have to do[br]in this city, in all cities --

0:18:58.769,0:19:02.420
mommas have to start being mommas today.

0:19:02.988,0:19:04.139
You know?

0:19:04.163,0:19:06.167
They have to start understanding --

0:19:06.191,0:19:08.692
when you bring this child in the world,

0:19:08.716,0:19:10.492
you have to make a man out of it,

0:19:10.516,0:19:12.566
you have to make a woman out of it,

0:19:12.590,0:19:14.003
and it takes some doing.

0:19:14.027,0:19:15.965
It takes sacrifice.

0:19:15.989,0:19:19.949
Maybe you won't have the long fingernails,[br]maybe you won't have the pretty hair.

0:19:20.419,0:19:23.396
But that child will be on the move,

0:19:23.420,0:19:24.944
and that's what you have to do.

0:19:24.968,0:19:27.130
We have to concentrate on educating

0:19:27.154,0:19:32.143
and making these children understand[br]what it's all about.

0:19:32.167,0:19:34.263
And I hate to tell you, gentlemen,

0:19:34.287,0:19:36.881
it's going to take[br]a good woman to do that.

0:19:37.809,0:19:40.988
It's going to take[br]a good woman to do that.

0:19:41.012,0:19:42.019
(Applause)

0:19:42.043,0:19:43.853
Men can do that part.

0:19:43.877,0:19:46.155
The other part is to just do[br]what you have to do

0:19:46.179,0:19:47.352
and bring it home,

0:19:47.376,0:19:49.067
but we can handle the rest,

0:19:49.091,0:19:50.900
and we will handle the rest.

0:19:51.229,0:19:53.357
If you're a good woman, you can do that.

0:19:53.381,0:19:54.895
PM: You heard that first here.

0:19:54.919,0:19:56.801
We can handle the rest.

0:19:56.825,0:19:58.046
(Laughter)

0:19:58.070,0:20:00.054
Mrs. Chase, thank you so much --

0:20:00.078,0:20:01.236
LC: Thank you.

0:20:01.260,0:20:05.419
for taking time out from the work[br]you do every day in this community.

0:20:05.443,0:20:07.601
LC: But you don't know[br]what this does for me.

0:20:07.625,0:20:10.307
When I see all of these people,[br]and come together --

0:20:10.331,0:20:13.189
people come to my kitchen[br]from all over the world.

0:20:13.751,0:20:16.282
I had people come from London,

0:20:16.306,0:20:18.613
now twice this happened to me.

0:20:18.637,0:20:22.653
First a man came, and I don't know[br]why he came to this --

0:20:22.677,0:20:27.359
Every year, the chefs do something[br]called "Chef's Charity."

0:20:28.041,0:20:32.732
Well, it so happened[br]I was the only woman there,

0:20:32.756,0:20:35.276
and the only African-American there

0:20:35.300,0:20:38.195
on that stage during these demonstrations,

0:20:38.219,0:20:41.813
and I would not leave until I saw[br]another woman come up there too.

0:20:41.837,0:20:44.440
I'm not going up -- they're going[br]to carry me up there

0:20:44.464,0:20:46.312
until you bring another woman up here.

0:20:46.336,0:20:48.066
(Laughter)

0:20:48.090,0:20:51.137
So they have another one now,[br]so I could step down.

0:20:51.161,0:20:53.994
But this man was from London.

0:20:54.018,0:20:56.939
So after that, I found the man[br]in my kitchen.

0:20:56.963,0:20:58.838
He came to my kitchen,

0:20:58.862,0:21:01.148
and he said, "I want[br]to ask you one question."

0:21:01.172,0:21:04.274
OK, I thought I was going to ask[br]something about food.

0:21:04.298,0:21:08.314
"Why does all these white men[br]hang around you?"

0:21:08.338,0:21:10.457
(Laughter)

0:21:10.481,0:21:11.632
What?

0:21:11.656,0:21:13.457
(Laughter)

0:21:13.481,0:21:15.084
I couldn't understand.

0:21:15.108,0:21:17.132
He couldn't understand that.

0:21:17.156,0:21:18.942
I said, "We work together.

0:21:18.966,0:21:21.545
This is the way we live in this city.

0:21:21.569,0:21:24.616
I may never go to your house,[br]you may never come to my house.

0:21:24.640,0:21:26.274
But when it comes to working,

0:21:26.298,0:21:29.059
like raising money[br]for this special school,

0:21:29.083,0:21:30.893
we come together.

0:21:30.917,0:21:32.195
That's what we do.

0:21:32.219,0:21:35.187
And still here comes another, a woman,

0:21:35.211,0:21:36.790
elegantly dressed,

0:21:36.814,0:21:39.181
about a month ago in my kitchen.

0:21:39.829,0:21:43.718
She said, "I don't understand[br]what I see in your dining room."

0:21:44.269,0:21:45.936
I said, "What do you see?"

0:21:45.960,0:21:48.711
She saw whites and blacks together.

0:21:48.735,0:21:50.300
That's what we do.

0:21:50.324,0:21:52.046
We meet. We talk.

0:21:52.571,0:21:54.277
And we work together,

0:21:54.301,0:21:56.195
and that's what we have to do.

0:21:56.219,0:21:59.933
You don't have to be my best friend[br]to work to better your city,

0:21:59.957,0:22:01.638
to better your country.

0:22:01.662,0:22:05.630
We just have to come together and work,[br]and that's what we do in this city.

0:22:05.654,0:22:07.852
We're a weird bunch down here.

0:22:07.876,0:22:09.098
(Laughter)

0:22:09.122,0:22:11.479
Nobody understands us,

0:22:11.503,0:22:13.090
but we feed you well.

0:22:13.114,0:22:15.361
(Laughter)

0:22:15.385,0:22:19.757
(Applause)

0:22:19.781,0:22:20.793
(Cheering)

0:22:20.817,0:22:21.980
Thank you.

0:22:22.004,0:22:27.404
(Applause)