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22 Apr, 33 tweets, 20 min read
Former President @BarackObama and filmmaker @ava are here to discuss Obama's best-selling memoir ‘A Promised Land’ at the L.A Times community book club.

Watch with us: twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Former President @BarackObama joins us to discuss "A Promised Land," the first of two volumes about his life and historic journey, from Hawaii to Chicago to the campaign trail to eight years in the White House.

Read our review of his memoir: latimes.com/entertainment-…
Read an excerpt of ‘A Promised Land’ here: latimes.com/entertainment-…
President Obama is in conversation with. @ava DuVernay, the award winning filmmaker behind "Selma," the social justice documentary "13th" and the Disney adventure "A Wrinkle in Time." twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Students from our @hsinsider fellowship program are asking @BarackObama questions.

Tariq Stone, a senior at Inglewood HS and an aspiring filmmaker asks - “What do you think is the most important next step in overcoming our differences as a nation?” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Ahead of the 2020 election, Tariq Stone wrote a letter to the next president.

“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, remember the other party exists because people believe in it. Don’t vilify someone because of their political stance.”

highschool.latimes.com/inglewood-high…
“We are a big, complicated, noisy, multiracial, multiethnic, multireligious democracy,” says @BarackObama. “And that's part of what sets America apart as this great experiment. And what that means is there's always going to be some clashes of ideas.” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
“Part of us coming together and being able to work together and live together constructively is knowing each other's stories,” says @BarackObama .

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
“I think learning our history and where we've been. And learning to listen and understand where other people have been, that's always going to be at the heart of how we make a democracy like ours work.” - @BarackObama

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
. @ava says she re-read the ‘A Promised Land’ chapter about Obama’s congressional run because it shows his struggle with ambition and ego.
She asks how Obama mined his memory to write about that time and how his early failures were a catalyst for success twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Obama on how he wrote about his congressional run “The feelings, they're not far away. Partly because even in all those years of subsequent success on the surface, I've never allowed myself to think that the line between success and failure is so clear” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
. @BarackObama on how he used early failures to drive success: “One of the most valuable things I learned from failure is reinforcing that, understanding that what you have control over is how you operate and what you do.” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
“A second part of failure is you kind of figure out, all right, how resilient are you?” says @BarackObama “That can be a source of confidence. You know what? The sun still comes up. And you know, I'm still here.” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
If you're new to the @latimesbooks community book club, welcome!

We host monthly forums with authors and journalists. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on upcoming events and book news. latimes.com/entertainment-…
How does one lead? @ava wants to know what tangible, task-driven advice @BarackObama has for leading.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
“I think this is the most important and sometimes gets the most neglected," says @BarackObama on leadership. "Understanding what is it that you're trying to accomplish.” twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
. @BarackObama’s second tip for leadership:

“Do not be afraid to have people who are smarter than you working with you.”

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
To, @BarackObama, good leadership is really just facilitating

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
@BarackObamas third rule of leadership: No jerks.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
@BarackObama 's leadership tips: Image
.@gracehleee, a junior at Buena Park High School, a member of our @hsinsider program, asks @BarackObama, “What’s one thing you want to be remembered for?”
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Ahead of the 2020 election, @gracehleee wrote an essay to the incoming president, saying “I hope the next four years will bring about a change in teacher funding and open doors to greater literacy and education for our next generation.”
highschool.latimes.com/buena-park-hig…
How does @BarackObama want to be remembered? He hopes one legacy is that big change is possible.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
. @BarackObama says he hopes another legacy he leaves is that he inspired young people to take part in politics “When you see people picking up the baton and doing great work and you think all right, maybe I sparked some of that. That feels pretty good.”

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Tonight's book club event is a special part of our annual L.A. Times Festival of Books!

There are still great panels tonight, tomorrow and Friday with authors, thought leaders and Times journalists.

RSVP to our free #bookfest events here: events.latimes.com/festivalofbook…
. @ava asks Obama to speak to how to deal with when people don’t agree with you - in the context of the current generation of change-makers and law enforcement. “There are some ideas that are different from before. Ideas that may not speak to reform, that speak to reimagining."
Obama wrote about his political awakening in this excerpt of his memoir ‘A Promised Land’

“I was never inspired by politicians, I was inspired by movement leaders” he said during the @latimesbooks Book Club event.
latimes.com/entertainment-…
During @BarackObama’s presidential run, some civil rights leaders doubted he could win or said his ideas were too extreme. But Rev. Otis Moss Jr. encouraged him, saying he should carry the torch forward. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
. @BarackObama’s advice for activists pushing for law enforcement reform: take an interest in who is the district attorney, the state’s attorney and who writes the collective bargaining agreement for police unions. And vote.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
There’s room, says @BarackObama for artists to make statements and not worry about concrete consequences.

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
. @BarackObama on pushing for police reforms: “How you frame these issues to invite broader coalitions, again, that matters in terms of the real world and actually getting stuff done.”

twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… Image
Thanks for watching tonight’s @latimesbooks community book club with @BarackObama and @ava

Join our L.A. Times Community Book Club and learn about upcoming events by subscribing to our newsletter: latimes.com/entertainment-…
Our L.A. Times Festival of Books runs through Friday, 4/23. Register to attend our free book panels here: events.latimes.com/festivalofbook…

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Here's what the post credit scene could mean, and more👇 latimes.com/entertainment-…
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The city of Los Angeles plans to file an appeal against a sweeping order by a federal judge that demanded urgent action to get people off skid row, according to court papers filed Friday.

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23 Apr
Weaverville, a California lumber town, has repeatedly bounced back from adversity — fires, economic downtowns, COVID-19. Like the town, high school athlete Chase Kirby is a survivor. latimes.com/california/sto…
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23 Apr
Facebook — and many other social networks — banned Trump indefinitely for inciting the riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s Facebook account is now a time capsule of the final, chaotic days before his presidency ended.

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Los Angeles Times Profile picture
23 Apr
An unusual order came in March of last year:

The air branch of the California National Guard was told to place an F-15C fighter jet on an alert status for a possible domestic mission, according to four Guard sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
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Those sources said the order didn’t spell out the mission but, given the aircraft’s limitations, they understood it to mean the plane could be deployed to terrify and disperse protesters by flying low over them at window-rattling speeds.latimes.com/california/sto…
Deploying an F-15C, an air-to-air combat jet based at the Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno, to frighten demonstrators in this country would have been an inappropriate use of the military against U.S. civilians, the sources said.

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Read 5 tweets

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