♪ ♪ ♪ >> Thomasina Yearwood and Sandra Lam of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to empowering people to choose how they live as they age.

♪ ♪ Thurgood Marshall was born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied law at Howard University Law School, graduating at the top of his class in 1933.

Marshall was the first African-American to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Prior to his judicial service, Marshall was a prolific attorney who fought for civil rights, leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Marshall coordinated the legal fight on racial segregation in schools.

He won 29 of the 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court.

One of the most historic cases Marshall argued was the landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional.

Marshall served on the court for 24 years, retiring in 1991.

Across the country, memorials, buildings, and schools have been built to honor the late justice who died at the age of 84 in 1993.

>> We're very pleased to have two of the dynamic leaders of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

First, we welcome Thomasina Yearwood, who is the president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

Thomasina, welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you very much.

>> And we have Sandra Lam, who is the distinguished vice president of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

Tell us, how did this building become to be named and associated with the great Thurgood Marshall?

>> Yes, our honorary board chair, Mrs. Cecilia Marshall, when I first started here with the Thurgood Marshall Center, she became our honorary board chair.

And prior to that, she had already given us permission to name the building the Thurgood Marshall Center For Service and Heritage.

>> So that's Mrs. Marshall, Thurgood Marshall's wife.

>> Yes, yes, yes.

So she has worked with us tremendously, coming to all the events, being a part of anything that we needed, she would be there for us.

She is very special.

And we certainly understand how they always say behind a strong man is a wonderful woman.

Well, their relationship was just very special.

And she has made a special effort to keep his legacy alive.

And that is one of the things that has been tremendous for the Thurgood Marshall Center.

>> Sandra Lam, tell us about this building, this historic preservation building that's now called the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

It had a history that's also connected with Thurgood Marshall.

>> Yes, it's interesting because the building had become into disrepair and was closed out for a period of time, and -- >> It was a former YMCA.

>> Yes, it was a former YMCA of Anthony Bowen, and he was a slave.

And he actually had this as his -- he was committed to having a place where young men, African-American men, could come.

And it was an incredible achievement.

It was the first of the YMCAs that African-American young men, young boys could attend.

So it has an incredible history.

And my own intersection with it was we were called when the building was in disrepair, not being used.

We were in a dark room, Dr. Chavis, with the windows all out, and we were sitting around in chairs, and the question was, we were a focus group, and they wanted to know whether or not we thought this was something that could be transformed.

And even though we all looked around and wondered how it could be transformed, we said yes.

And that was when the building had been made -- had been given to Mrs. Marshall.

So it has an incredible history, and it's all about the endurance and the perseverance, and that's the pole mark of the building.

>> And part of the history of the nation's capital that many people, you know, this is public broadcasting, they may not be aware, but there was a point in time where African-Americans and other people of color could not be in a hotel in the nation's capital.

And the YMCA was one place where even Thurgood Marshall could come and do some of his legal research, his writing.

Tell us something about the intersection of the YMCA and now the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust and the utilization of the building as a local community center, regional community center, but also has a national impact.

>> Yes.

As far as being a community center, I have to say that we've made a tremendous impact in the community by having 10 to 12 tenants that serve children, youth, and families in the community.

We are at a point where we have about 40,000 people crossing the doorstep within a year.

>> 40,000 people... >> 40,000.

>> ...come in this building annually?

>> That's right.

>> That's a lot of traffic.

>> That's right, and initially, you know, we really didn't pay a lot of attention.

But I said, "We need to start putting this in on paper so that we have the records of individuals, what part of the city did they come from, what types of services that they receive?"

So now we have such a support system in terms of organizations renting the building, special events happening in the building.

Our former chair of about 10 years ago, his daughter was married here in the Heritage Room, in the museum room of the building.

So we have a really important job to do to make sure that everyone is served.

And as far as I know, we not only are local, but we are also national.

>> Yes.

>> And across the country, everyone, we're looking at our numbers now on social media, and we're finding that as we look through the numbers, there's so many people outside of this metropolitan area that are following the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

>> Right, and of course, we were blessed to see now the first African-American woman joined the Supreme Court of the United States, the honorable Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

>> Yes.

Yes.

>> So as a lawyer, tell me how you see this evolution.

>> I think it's an amazing evolution, and it's one that we need to make sure we take the time to honor and to recognize so many things go on and things that don't go right or don't go well, but this is an amazing evolution of history.

And as a Black woman and a lawyer, I have to say, I even feel a little more lift with that accomplishment.

Both of them are stellar, unique, incredible people who have risen to the occasion.

And they have -- they've borne quite a bit to get there.

And we need to make certain that we give them their due and be inspired by them.

>> Well, both were defense lawyers.

>> Yes.

>> Most most defense lawyers never make it to the Supreme Court.

>> There is only one, and that is Judge Jackson Brown.

>> What are some of the national priorities of the Thurgood Marshall Center?

>> I think that one of the big national priorities is for us to be able to have individuals come to the building, experience the history, take the tour of the building.

While we do have a tour on our website that you can see, people that come into this building have such a feeling of pride and also a feeling that, well, they can do anything.

If this is here, we can do anything.

And we have been honored in having Langston Hughes live in the building.

So we have actually preserved his room.

>> Say that again.

The famous poet Langston Hughes.. >> Langston Hughes... >> ...actually stayed in this building.

>> Yes.

>> That's known as the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

>> And we have preserved that room, and individuals coming in, we take them to that room, and they're overwhelmed with emotion, thinking that we have this preserved all these years, yes.

So it's a great impact in terms of the building itself and the history.

>> So, Sandra, I understand you are also doing something on STEM.

>> Yes.

>> You're working with the National STEM Honor Society.

>> National STEM Honor Society.

We're really excited about that.

We're actually going to do a collaborative so that it can impact up to 110 schools as a pilot here in DC.

And it will give an opportunity for students to be exposed to STEM.

And what we're planning for is to have a science fair, a science contest throughout the city that will culminate and be -- the finalists will be right here.

It's exciting, and it's -- there's a way for -- some schools are doing this, and we'll be able to lift that even more so that students can actually have the experience, the STEM experience, which is something that really excites the method of learning.

So that's one thing that's really great.

>> What is the website for the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust?

>> It's tmcsh.org or ThurgoodMarshall.org.

>> Okay.

>> We're very excited because at this time we're getting ready to honor the 68th anniversary of Brown v. Board, and that will be something very special and people will support greatly.

>> Well, let's talk about that significance.

Thurgood Marshall's legacy bringing up to 2022, 68 years of legacy of struggling to improve our public education system.

Start with you first, Sandra.

>> Well, I think he set the tone for public education, true public education for all Americans.

And what he did is he actually went through, in preparation for this case, he had to have witnesses, as you said, the ruling had been that separate but equal.

So the challenge was showing it was anything but equal.

And some of his best witnesses were children in the ages of 8 years old, 7 years old.

He went throughout the South and interviewed children elementary schools and asked them, "Well, where do you go to the bathroom when you have to go to the bathroom?

Do you have pencils, or do you have pens or papers?"

And it demonstrated very clearly that it was not equal in the quality of education.

And as a result of this, of Brown v. the Board of Education, it lifted the income of teachers, all teachers.

Didn't matter whether they were Black or white, but it lifted up their salaries because obviously they were not being paid enough and they brought them out of these one-house school rooms.

So it's very critical.

And he went through a lot.

My favorite is to understand they were headed back from these interviews one night, and the police, the sheriff pulled up behind them and took him out of the car and they took him off to a road, said they were going to take him to the local place or wherever, the sheriff's office.

And they were asking -- these are lawyers -- and they're asking, "Why is he being taken?"

He got taken off into some dark road, and Charles Houston and his colleagues decided they would follow him because, of course, we all know what happens generally with that, and he was able to come out of that.

I think that's incredible courage and tenacity.

And that's one of the things that I think we should stick with when we talk about public education.

>> Of course, when Thurgood Marshall presented before the Supreme Court, it was not integrated.

>> No.

>> There were no women on the court.

>> No.

>> And there certainly were no minorities on the court.

>> No.

>> And so for him to win this case was a tremendous victory.

And then later, President Johnson, in the 1960s, appoints Thurgood Marshall to be the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court.

So, Thomasina, I saw Mrs. Marshall here in the building several times.

>> Yes.

>> Tell us about how she sees her husband's legacy being embodied by the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

>> Well, one of the things -- I always refer to as Cissy Marshall -- is that Thurgood Marshall, or Justice Marshall, realized very early on how important our youth were.

And so as we've talked, we have believed that, you know, our youth are our future.

And he set the pace for how with the Brown v. Board decision, with how our children should be treated.

And so it's just important.

They're our future.

And that's why it's important today that we continue to support that effort.

But at the same time, we have to do a little fighting here.

It's just very important.

It is not equal.

>> So there's a greater need now than ever before to bridge the education gap, not only in STEM but also in other disciplines.

Do you see a building return of the desire to get a good education?

>> Oh, most definitely.

You know, having all of the, I would say, tools, their phones, their iPads, their computers.

But we find that they still have a love for reading, they want to explore different locations and museums.

And it's just important that we continue to support that.

And that's why we did the Back to School festival each summer.

We also do a mid-year when we know that supplies are low for the students, having been there for a whole year.

And so we do have a Back to School program where we refill all of the things that we think they need.

Our students, as I've said, are our future.

And that's why we have to continue to support them.

And the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust is always open and available to any of the needs of these young people.

>> What has been your experience in terms of outreach?

Is corporate America supporting the center, is a municipality, the government?

How do you keep a center like this alive?

>> I think it's really important to keep an eye.

The board has a responsibility to cause those entities, those very genres to pull them in and continue to remind them.

I think corporate, there's been a real interest in supporting the students and the programing that we have.

Of course, that's how we got -- reached the National STEM Society.

We're going to -- that's actually going to elevate this year.

And we've been working on it all year.

We're looking forward even to 2023.

Each year, we've been able to make that stronger and stronger.

So the answer in terms of that is that there is always room for support.

This is a great organization and purpose and mission to support, and we're responsible for upholding that heritage.

So the answer is yes, we have support from the municipalities.

We want more, we need more.

And it's just making certain that there's a a long term commitment.

We're looking to the legal community for a long term consistent commitment to supporting the heritage and the mission of the Thurgood Marshall Center.

>> This year, we're going to launch a program.

It is for the lawyers of DC.

And so the Thurgood Marshall Center is offering them a menu of opportunities, and they will be the friends of the Thurgood Marshall Lawyers Group.

What we will do, we provide them an actual menu of opportunities, and then their diversity budget selects what part that they want to do to serve this historic building.

>> Now, the National Bar Association, which represents all the Black lawyers across the United States of America, is actually headquartered in the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust.

>> That's right.

>> That's right.

>> And then one of Reverend Jesse Jackson's civil rights organizations... >> Yes, Transformative Justice Coalition.

>> The Coalition for Change.

Yes.

>> Justice.

>> Transformative Justice Coalition.

>> Justice Coalition, that's right.

>> They're also based in the Thurgood Marshall Center.

>> Yes, they are.

>> So you have national civil rights organizations, national legal organizations, but also community based organizations.

I know down in the basement, there is a group serving a growing Ethiopian population.

There are a lot of Ethiopian immigrants that come to the nation's capital.

>> Yes, yes, yes.

And all of them have a mission that is aligned with the ultimate mission of not only the mission of the center, but the legacy of Thurgood Marshall, so... >> Transformation.

>> That's right.

>> Education.

>> Yes.

>> Community service.

>> That's right.

Yes.

>> But I noticed that where the Thurgood Marshall Center is located, we said at the beginning, is in the former Shaw District.

But gentrification is an issue in all of the cities across America.

How is the Thurgood Marshall Center surviving gentrification?

Because the community that surrounds this building is changing rapidly.

>> Rapidly.

One of the things we always make sure that we keep a close connection to the ward, and we're in ward 1, so we actually invite them to have their community meetings here.

The mayor's office, they do different events here, and we support them with that.

So over the years, I've been able to have relationships with many of the wards and was able when we were in a little bit of a fix, to have all the wards support and receive money from the DC government.

So it's very, very important that we continue to open our doors and support, you know, the community, support the people that make a difference.

And DC government and the wards, they do make a difference for all the individuals in this area.

>> Sandra, do you see people coming who may have been displaced because of gentrification, ultimately being able to come back into the neighborhood to attend programs at the Thurgood Marshall Center?

>> Oh, absolutely.

I think it's one of the best draws.

And even we have multi-generational lecture series across age groups to be able to talk about subjects that maybe that are poignant and of importance for now.

We're reaching out to our neighbors, who are getting more and more affluent.

We want them to be an integral part of our sustainability.

So I think, as the board, the challenge that we have ongoing is to continue to not only have these kind of organizations and entities available to the Thurgood Marshall Center to support it, but to make it ongoing.

And I think the important thing that we tried to have understood is that the organization reaches across the city for coming in and across the country, but we offer the opportunity for people who would not otherwise have access to this kind of a cultural, educational STEM opportunity that they have.

And it helps adults with respect to conversations and dialogue to be able to be lifted up into a conversation that they might not otherwise participate in.

>> If Thurgood Marshall were alive today, what would be his message to the youth of America?

>> To continue to educate yourself because you are our next leaders.

And so it's very important.

He continued to focus on the future, that our youth are our future.

So continuing your education, continuing your exploration in terms of different organizations, different places to visit, all of these expose and provide growth to these young people.

And so I think that that is what he would want these young people to do at this time.

>> I think he would say reach, reach.

Reach, and at the same time, dig deep.

You know, we have to plant our feet, but we need to reach for the stars.

And I think that students need to have a vision.

And I think this actually works for all of us, whether we're children or adults.

And I would say that he would encourage parents to give visions to their children and have them reach.

There's more in them than they know, and that's really the challenge, to bring out what it is that's in them and to believe in themselves.

So reach, reach and work hard.

>> President Thomasina Yearwood, vice president Sandra Lam, thank you both for being on "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having us.

Thank you.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we are committed to diversity and understand our responsibility in supporting and empowering diverse communities.

Diversity and inclusion is integral to the way we work.

Supporting the financial health of our diverse customers and employees is one of the many ways we remain invested in inclusion for all today, tomorrow, and in the future.

American Petroleum Institute -- through the core elements of API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry in the U.S. and around the world.

You can learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to empowering people to choose how they live as they age.

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