Eric Holder, attorney general in the Obama administration, appeared at the Tabernacle on Tuesday evening, where he discussed the Trump indictment, race, and the failings of the Democratic Party.
Holder was joined by three-time Grammy nominee Kim Owens, better known as Kem.
The conversation was moderated by Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post writer and host of MSNBC’s “The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”
Both Holder and Kem’s entrances were met with standing ovations from a packed Tabernacle.
After thanking the audience for coming, Capehart began the conversation by asking about former President Donald Trump’s recent indictments.
“You can’t have the former attorney general sitting here, and not ask him some questions about the news today,” Capehart said, inciting laughs from the crowd.
Holder said that he thinks the charges are “likely to be successful.”
“The question is when,” he said. “In an ideal world, we could have these cases decided before the American people cast a ballot.”
The three men further discussed the current political climate, including equal opportunity.
“It seems to me that things are tougher now,” Capehart said. “The racism is more open, more overt. We saw it for four years, coming from the Oval Office.”
Holder agreed, asking, “Who’s going to have opportunities? Who’s going to have the abilities to make the most of themselves? … Is this nation finally going to get to the place that’s consistent with the founding ideals, where everyone’s going to have a shot?”
Holder “finds confidence” in the fact that Black Americans have endured “more difficult times, and they overcame.”
“We loved this nation when this nation did not love us. We’re not in the place yet where we need to be, but we can get there. But it’s going to take work and commitment,” Holder said.
“What are you going to do?” he asked the audience.
Capehart also mentioned how both men have recently published books. Holder penned “Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote — A History, a Crisis, a Plan.” The book provides a history of voter suppression, as well as a playbook for improving voting rights in America.
Kem’s memoir, “Share My Life: A Journey of Love, Faith, and Redemption,” chronicles his journey from homelessness to gold-record artist.
Capehart brought up how the two books have little in common, and asked Holder why he wrote the foreword for Kem’s book.
“I have great respect for his artistry, but his story is unbelievably compelling, and I thought it was one I wanted to be a part of,” Holder said. “In the Kem story is a story of America … he wasn’t born this unbelievably great artist. He had to overcome a whole bunch of things to get to the point where he is now.”
Kem explained why it was important to write his memoir, saying, “When we are transparent about ourselves … that’s how people’s lives get transformed.”
They moved on to a discussion about voting and youth political engagement.
“There’s no enthusiasm among young people for President Biden, or the Democrats,” Capehart pointed out. “Why do you think that is?”
“Y’all better be enthusiastic,” Holder addressed the crowd. “We’ll start there.”
He went on to explain how he believes people need to consider not only the Democratic Party “in isolation, but what the alternative is.”
“The Republican Party has demonstrated that it is anti-democracy … anyone who’s sitting out an election, you’re creating a void,” Holder said.
Kem added that he votes, and that he thinks that over the past few years, “things have become so divisive in the country.”
“The flip side of that is, it is enraged people that frighten people to the polls,” Kem said.
Toward the end of the evening, both Holder and Kem took questions from the audience. One audience member asked Holder about the recent debate surrounding affirmative action.
“We shouldn’t curl up … and think we can’t do anything with regard to diversity,” Holder said. “These folks are going to take as much as they can. They will stop when we put up a wall of opportunity.”
The conversation ended with the third standing ovation of the evening.