The Democratic Party structure is keenly aware of who makes our party strong.

When I saw Fannie Lou Hamer speech I said, "Well, how did this Democratic Party that Miss Hamer is talking about, become the Democratic Party that now is the party of the African-American community?"

That is part of why we must keep talking about Fannie Lou Hamer and about our history as a party and as a nation. We can't forget. If we forget, we can get self-righteous. We are great, but we had to grow into that greatness. Let's not forget that we shut people out.

I was born the day before the March on Washington. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Everybody in my neighborhood was a Democrat. We just didn't have any Republicans, because anyone running as a Republican was very out of touch with what our community needed.

The Democratic Party structure is keenly aware of who makes our party strong.

It means everything for me to serve as the CEO of a convention.

When I looked at [Fannie Lou] Hamer and that speech it seemed to me that she had to be the bravest woman ever, to come before that body and to assert her rights, when she knew that she was going lose that battle. But she did it anyway, because she knew she was speaking not just for herself and for that day, but for me, and for all the other young women who were coming behind her. She didn't know our names, but she was working for us. I find that incredibly empowering.