[car horn honks]
[Hillary] I'm really looking forward to going back to Arkansas.
I just got some books.
101 Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die.
-The first restaurant mentioned… -Tell me. Tell me.
…is AQ Chicken House.
Oh, my gosh, I-- [laughs]
I ate so much chicken at the AQ Chicken House.
Lemon pepper, spiced, battered
-and pan-fried chicken. -[laughing]
Unbelievable.
-We'll try to find some of that for you. -[laughs]
I loved being a kid there.
I have so many wonderful memories of growing up in Little Rock.
When I began to date your dad,
he was clear from the beginning. "I'm going home to Arkansas."
I thought, "Okay, I need to see what Arkansas is like."
And that's when I decided to take a big leap of faith, uh, follow my heart.
I think of Arkansas as a real turning point in my own life.
It was where you were born.
Which, of course, was the most important thing
that happened to me while I was there.
And I've been thinking,
how does the place or the space that you're in mold you, challenge you?
Going back to Arkansas helps us really think through
some of these questions about what does gutsiness really mean?
How do you make difficult choices?
How do you take a leap-- a leap of faith,
sometimes, that you have no idea what the outcome is going to be?
Going back is something I'm looking forward to.
Me too.
I don't know if you're going to get much more in there.
You'll be surprised. That's very expandable.
Oh, yeah, I got lots of room. [sighs]
-Do I need to sit on your suitcase? -No, I don't need-- It's very--
-I know, you're very… -Reliable!
-…you're very loyal to that suitcase. -I am.
-Okay. -Oh, good lord. All right.
Okay! We're done! Let's head to Arkansas.
-Off we go. -[laughs]
I did not see that coming. And I was like, "Let's go."
I have a master's in whites.
I just want whites to get a GED in Blacks. That's all. [laughs]
[Hillary] Next stop, Little Rock.
-Here we go. -This is not a stick shift, is it?
-No, that's a microphone. [chuckles] -Oh. [laughs]
"Maintenance required. Visit your dealer."
[laughs]
[Hillary] This is going to be so fun.
I'm really looking forward to going back to Fayetteville.
That's where I first moved
when I came to Arkansas.
Absolutely loved it, teaching at the law school.
We're going to go by and see the house where we got married.
[Hillary] The house is now a museum
which, I have to confess, makes me feel really old.
I couldn't imagine anybody better to show us around than Ann Henry,
who was one of the very first friends I made
when I moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Ann! [laughs] Oh.
Welcome to your home! And Chelsea.
Hi, Ann.
-This is where it all started, honey. -I know. I've never been here.
-Well, you're going to love it. -I've never been here.
-Oh, my gosh, is that your wedding dress? -No, she hasn't! She's never been here.
No, I didn't know that was here until I walked in just now.
Well, I bought it at Dillard's, and it was $53.
Because your mother told you you had to get a wedding dress.
Yes, and she went with me to Dillard's the Friday night
-before I got married. -A little different from yours, Chelsea.
Yes, well… [Chelsea chuckles]
-[Hillary] We got married right here. -[Ann] Right here.
[Hillary] This was our dining room.
-Clinton for Congress. -[Ann] This was '74.
-I remember this, the star. -Mm-hmm.
Wait, what's the tie?
It was the kind of ties… [laughs] …men wore back then.
One of Dad's ties, or no?
-[Hillary] It could have been. -[Ann] Isn't that funny?
-Okay, now the kitchen. -Right.
-Now, does this look the same, Mom? -Very much the same.
-[Chelsea] Burnt orange. -Find--
-I just like it. I just find it cheerful. -Fantastic for sure.
Why do we have Swansons all over--
-Because this is a big deal. -They made 'em here. In Fayetteville.
I remember having Swanson chicken pot pies as a kid.
I was just confused, like--
The significance of this next to my parents.
-[Ann] Because they didn't cook much. -Okay. But that's why I asked.
We had a lot of chicken pot pie.
What do you have there? You got some pictures? [Hillary laughs]
-[Ann] Ain't that a wonderful picture? -[Chelsea] Oh.
-I don't think I've ever seen that one. -Those glasses. [laughs]
-You look like the '70s, Mom. -[Ann] She's always--
[Hillary] Oh, my gosh.
-I wanna tell ya, in 1974-- -Yes, ma'am.
We had been hearing about her.
Your dad, he talked about how there was this woman that he was in love with,
and she could do anything, and he just would love to marry her,
but he just didn't know whether she would marry him.
-We all wanted to meet her. -[laughs]
So, the law school had a reception,
and, since I was a lawyer, I got to go.
I marched right up, and there she was in her pageboy and her suit.
We shook hands, and we've been friends ever since.
-[Hillary] We sure have. -I immediately--
-[Chelsea] Almost 50 years later. -That's what I'm saying. It was great.
[Hillary] Ann was nice enough to host the wedding reception.
I failed one test.
-I did not get a photographer. -Oh, dear.
And, you know, today, if you don't have a photograph,
it didn't happen. [laughs]
-But we didn't think about that so much. -No, we didn't.
If she's not thinking about a wedding dress,
she certainly wasn't thinking about a-- a photographer.
-Fashion was never our priority, was it? -[laughs] No!
Well, it certainly wasn't my strong suit. I can tell you that.
When I moved to Fayetteville, for me, that was a big risk.
A lot of people thought I was crazy.
To come from a really large city like Chicago,
-this really had to seem like Green Acres. -Smallville.
Th-- [laughs] It was small, but it was so welcoming,
and the people were so interesting, and we had such a good time.
I tell people everywhere that I loved living in Fayetteville.
-[Ann] Well, that-- -Yeah.
-This is where I got married. [laughs] -That's right. That's right.
-And the rest is history. -And as I told Chelsea--
[both laughing]
[Hillary] You know, for me, this place was really formative.
I found a wonderful home here.
And I'm not the only one.
We're on our way to meet with Canopy,
one of the organizations that's helping to resettle refugees in Arkansas.
Right now, Canopy is part of a national effort
to resettle more than 75,000 Afghans who had to flee their homes
when the Taliban came back and took over again in the summer of 2021.
[car door closes]
-Hello. Hey, how are you? It's-- -Welcome, Secretary Clinton. I'm Joanna.
-Hi, Chelsea. It's so nice to meet you. -Thank you. I'm sorry my hands are cold.
No, I want to show you a warm Canopy welcome
-here in Fayetteville. -I am thrilled.
JOANNA KRAUSE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CANOPY NWA
-Our next family is coming on Wednesday. -You're kidding.
We're right into action to get everything together
because we want to have a warm home ready to welcome them.
We have welcomed, in the last month,
56 people in 13 households…
-That's so great. -…which is incredible.
[Chelsea] And how many people will live here?
[Joanna] This is gonna be a family of five.
It's been an exhausting period for all the families who have come through.
But we've been able to bring them to a safe, quiet place.
-Do you want to help us make up a bed? -I would love to.
So, this is part of the fun of being in Canopy
because people donate us stuff.
And so, then we just have a bag of screws,
-and… [laughs] …this daybed-- -A bag of screws?
And we're usually just standing around figuring it out.
Okay.
Here, Chels, you hold that.
-It-- Does it go… -[Chelsea] Here.
-Here you go, Mom. -Here. Yes. Yes.
[Hillary] So, this was all donated?
-Donated. Yes. So, sometimes-- -Do we have enough of the screws?
-We have some short screws down here. -Ah. This is going to be interesting.
-Mom, we need a shorter one in there. -Okey dokey.
-Okay. So, it goes in this way. -Yep.
[Chelsea] Do you know how many cribs I've put together?
[all laugh]
-Yeah. -There we go.
I just don't want anybody getting in the bed and collapsing.
[Joanna laughs] They usually love to jump into their bed when they first see it.
-So, we want to make sure it's sturdy. -[Hillary] Oh, no! That's terrifying.
[Joanna laughs]
All right, let's see if that's…
[Joanna] Takes a village.
-It does. It does. Absolutely. -[all laugh]
One more here.
-There we go. -Great.
-This seems pretty steady. -I think-- Yeah. I think it's good.
Think we got it.
-Ah, it fits! Good. -Yeah.
Excellent, excellent.
-Well, I guess we have to keep working. -Yes!
-We-- Yeah, we have a lot to do. -Okay!
-Toilet paper. -Thank you.
Now, this fell down. Are we gonna put it back up?
Oh. Our sh-- Our shower curtain fell down.
-[Hillary] Yeah. -Yeah, I don't know.
-These things are really-- -Oh, no.
No, but Mom-- Mom, we need the-- We need the little--
There's nowhere to rest it.
-It needs the little half-moons, I think. -[Hillary] Yeah. Yeah.
It will come down very easily, but at least it looks nice. [chuckles]
It-- It's up.
-[Chelsea] One of our favorite books. -[Joanna] We're excited. We're ready.
Once we get the shower curtain fixed.
Once we get the shower curtain fixed, yes.
-[laughs] -We were-- We were so close.
That is so cool, you guys. I love it.
[Chelsea] I cannot imagine the courage it takes to leave your home.
To leave everything you've known.
We'll get a chance to visit a family from Kabul
that arrived in Arkansas just a few weeks ago.
And Mom, you've spent months trying to help evacuate Afghans,
especially Afghan women and their families.
It kind of comes full circle for me to meet this family
that Canopy is helping to resettle.
I just am so grateful to have this chance
to welcome you to Arkansas and America.
-[Aqela] Thank you so much. -[Basira] Oh, yeah. We are--
[Chelsea] And how long have you been here now?
[Aqela] About three weeks that we are here.
Three weeks.
[Basira, in Farsi] When we first arrived in Arkansas,
there were pumpkins at every door.
My mother kept asking,
"Why would they keep the pumpkins there, Basira?"
On one of those days,
there were kids wearing different costumes.
That's when we realized it's part of the culture and tradition.
[Aqela, in English] So maybe next year.
Next year. And I bet your son will wanna be in a costume.
Yes.
[Hillary] You really demonstrate the incredible bravery
that so many Afghans have had to show.
Taliban forces entered the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul, today.
The culmination of a rapid advance
and retaking of control almost exactly two decades
after they were ousted from power.
Conditions in Afghanistan
during this 20 years was not perfect,
but people were happy because
people had their basic rights,
like women going to a school, going to university,
uh, be an active part of the society.
[Hillary] Were you in school at this time?
I finished in Kabul University
in law.
Law and political science.
[Hillary] And were you in school?
I was in university.
[in Farsi] Well when I was studying in Kabul,
I always said that I wanted to be a doctor.
It's not only that you lost your present, but you lost your future.
You lost what you thought would be possible.
[Aqela] That time the regime changed and the Taliban came,
I can say such disaster
-happened for Afghanistan. -[Hillary] Mm-hmm.
[Hillary] It happened so quickly.
You had to make a life-changing decision almost within hours.
[Aqela] Thousands of people rushed to the gates of airport,
and some people died because it was crowded.
Some of our family members didn't want to go to the airport.
But at 2:00 a.m.
we left our home.
[in Farsi] The only thing that we could bring was a backpack.
[Aqela, in English] Afghanistan's airport has many gates.
We got to Abbey Gate.
Two days after us,
a suicide bomb attack happened on that gate.
[sirens wail, indistinct chattering]
It was dangerous and risky,
but we got through that gate.
-And you were all able to leave together? -Uh, yes.
We really didn't want to come as a refugee,
but we had to make that decision.
And how's your son? How has he adapted to being in a new place?
With new people, a new home?
The first days, it was difficult,
because a feeling of being homeless
-is difficult even for a baby. -Mm-hmm.
So when he understood that he had-- he has a house.
-So, he became so happy. -Mmm.
He knows that we have a home,
a calm city, and I can play safely.
And now he's making new friends.
That was my next question. Has he made new friends?
Yes, he's making new friends
with some of my neighbors and co-sponsor families.
And now he's okay with Arkansas.
And we wish you the very, very best.
And we hope that you have a good first Thanksgiving here.
Yeah, thank you.
[Chelsea] So, happy Thanksgiving.
Oh, thank you, Mom.
I can have it.
Oh, no, no. I'll do it. You-You served us. Thank you.
-Madam Secretary? -Yes?
So, the first day when you come to an Afghan house,
-you do not wash dishes. -[laughing]
The second day you come, you wash dishes.
[Chelsea] We wash dishes at our--
Okay? Yeah, the first day… [chuckles] …you don't.
[Hillary] I think it's important to revisit parts of our past.
And what better place to reflect on all of that than Little Rock?
[Chelsea] There's Rally's. I remember the curly fries at Rally's.
They are so good. I wonder if they're still made the same way.
Oh, my gosh. I remember going to the playground
near the War Memorial Stadium. And it had this--
-And the zoo. -I loved the zoo.
You loved it. And they named a chimpanzee for you.
-No, they did not. -[laughs]
It was not a chimpanzee. It was an orangutan.
-Oh, it was an orangutan? -Born in 1975.
I thought you had named me for the orangutan.
-Oh, I wouldn't do that. [laughs] -I mean, she seemed quite lovely.
When we were here in '96 for Election Day.
And I was with a couple of my friends at the mall,
and I wanted to get my ears pierced.
I was 16, and I called you
and you said you didn't want me to do it in a moment of euphoria.
And I couldn't believe you wouldn't let me do it,
'cause I was like, "16 is four years past 12,"
and you had told me I could do it at 12.
Well, first of all, I do not ever remember saying 12.
-I think I said 20 or 30. I never said 12. -No, definitely not.
-No, I'm sorry, I never said that. No. -And I was like-- You did.
And-- But when I was little.
I told Charlotte that I would get my ears pierced with her.
Oh, gosh. You talk to me when she's 16 and calls you from a mall.
Well, I told her she could do it when she was 12.
Ugh. Okay. All right. My poor granddaughter.
-Okay. -We'll be fine.
Here's Central High School where you would've gone to high school,
-if we had stayed in Little Rock. -Yeah.
Such a magnificent building
and obviously the history makes it
-even more important and more special. -More important. Mmm.
When I look out at Central High School,
I think back to Brown v. Board of Education
which said that the public schools of America should be integrated.
That the schools that Black kids went to
were nowhere near comparable,
let alone equal, to the schools that white kids went to.
In 1957, the Little Rock School Board said,
"We're going to integrate the schools."
And nine brave young men and women
were the first Black students to go to this amazing high school.
Obviously, everybody should've been doing the same thing,
but many parts of the country, uh, were not doing anything.
And it's also hard to even think that nine students
integrating a student body of close to 2,000
-was really anything akin to integration. -Mm-hmm. Mmm.
And the pressure that these nine students felt.
When you were a kid in Chicago,
were you aware of what was happening
-here at Little Rock? -Absolutely.
I lived in an all-white suburb outside of Chicago
and went to great public schools.
And, you know, my father watched the news every night,
and all of a sudden there on the screen seared into my mind
were the very brave, young Black students, the Little Rock Nine.
[crowd shouting]
Walking through crowds that were yelling at them, spitting.
-[Chelsea] They were hateful. -Spitting on them.
Kids who were five, six, seven years older than me.
Kind of made me much more aware of what was going on
outside of my own community.
And, you know, greatness is not always a straight line.
I saw what happened here in 1957.
It didn't make me dislike my country.
It made me admire the young people who were trying
to make our country live up to its highest ideals.
[Chelsea] And I'm so honored
that we're going to be speaking with Carlotta and Minnijean,
who were part of the Little Rock Nine, about their personal experiences.
-Oh, my gosh! [laughs] Carla. -Hello. [chuckles]
-Good to see you. Good to see you. -So happy to see you again, my friend.
[chuckles] Good to see you as well.
-Oh, my gosh. This is such a treat. -How 'bout that?
[chuckles] Yes, this is wonderful.
[Chelsea] So we've been talking a lot about what it means to be gutsy.
In your case, to know that you deserved a world-class education
and to trust that you had the courage to fight to be here at Central.
[Brown-Trickey] I was thinking about growing up in the Jim Crow South.
I was taught that I was beautiful.
I was taught that I was smart…
-Which were true. [laughs] -…and talented.
I'm Minnijean Brown.
I'm thankful for the many people
who have stood by us and worked diligently in our struggle.
[Brown-Trickey] Our families didn't want us to have to be treated badly.
And we would walk rather than take the bus.
[Hillary] So, you weren't sent to the back of the bus
-in order to avoid that? Yeah. -[Brown-Trickey] We did a lot of walking.
It just becomes natural that you're resisting.
-[Hillary] Mmm. -That's it.
So that we kept safe.
My mother would say, "Things are going to change.
You need to be prepared to go through the door,
whether it's flung wide open or a crack in the door.
And to do that is to get the best education possible."
So I heard about education from the cradle on.
[Brown-Trickey] I was in history class at Central.
Slavery came up, and it was one paragraph
-in the history book that said… -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
"Slavery was good for Black people."
[LaNier] Mm-hmm.
And dumb little me meekly raised my hand and said,
"This is not what I learned about slavery."
Well, that was my kiss of fate. I became a troublemaker.
I didn't know which--
[Chelsea] You didn't know you weren't supposed to speak the truth.
[Brown-Trickey] Yeah. Absolutely.
[Hillary] But when the Little Rock School Board made that decision,
-how did it come to be… -[laughs]
…that you were two of the nine?
Well, I wanted to be this doctor because of Madame Curie.
-[laughs] -[Hillary] Oh, good reason.
Yeah. I knew in this lab that there were two kids,
uh, dissecting a frog.
While over at Dunbar,
it is ten or 12 kids standing around a poor little frog, trying to dissect it.
So, it was about an access to the-- an opportunity.
The first of August, I think I received the registration card.
And I'll never forget seeing the look on my father's face.
His eyes got big.
He said, "So you're planning on going to Central?"
And I said, "Yes."
He served in World War II.
And he said, "You know, no one takes my dollars and separate them.
There's no white dollars and Black dollars tax-wise.
I'm help paying for Little Rock Central High School."
My parents were proud.
First day, I walk up and met with the others.
Now, I saw this crowd over there…
[crowd shouting]
…but I didn't have any fear.
-Did you? -No.
-[LaNier] I-I didn't have any fear, so-- -[chuckles] We'd never been hated.
-What are we gonna be afraid of? -[LaNier] Afraid of, yeah.
We started walking,
and then up comes this commanding officer and says,
"Turn these kids around and go home."
The night before, the governor said he was calling out
the Arkansas National Guard to protect the citizens of Little Rock.
I'm trying to understand what is happening here.
The guards are here, they're to protect the citizens.
Take care of that crowd over there. That's the 14-year-old thinking.
We ended up turning around and leaving.
Second first day was September 23rd.
[crowd shouting]
We had gotten in from the side door that morning.
And the classroom was on the back side,
so I didn't see what was going on out front.
The mob was growing.
I was in geometry class, and the policeman comes to the door,
hurried us down into two police cars.
They said, "Put blankets over your heads and don't look up."
And I heard him say,
"Put your foot to the floor and don't stop for anything."
I can feel, even today, that rush.
When I got home, the phone had been ringing.
People were telling my mother to get up there
and get Carlotta out of that school.
My mother's 96 years old,
and the gray hair that's on her head today started September 23rd, 1957.
That was my scariest day.
And that's when President Eisenhower said,
"What is happening in Little Rock?"
He knew he had to do something, and I got a call from my uncle saying,
"Do you know who's coming into Little Rock because of you and your friends?"
The country's finest, the 101st Airborne, the Screaming Eagles,
who had made a big name for themselves in World War II.
And let me tell you, to see them--
-[chuckles] -Ooh.
[newscaster] The president ordered United States soldiers into Little Rock.
They escorted the Negro children to and from school,
gave them full protection from the threatening crowds.
-We were supposed to be cowering… -[LaNier] Yeah.
-…in our closets. -Right.
That was the whole point of the mob
and all the hatred and all that was-- We're going to say,
-"Oh, we're not going back." -No, no.
-But because we went back… -Mm-hmm.
…he had to act.
[Hillary] You had to really believe in yourself,
and you had to be brave.
You had to be willing to stand up for yourself.
-Right. -And-- And paid a price for it.
[Brown-Trickey] First of all, I got in trouble asking
that question about slavery.
-I was never gonna lose that reputation. -[Hillary, LaNier] Mm-hmm.
[Brown-Trickey] Every day, a group of girls would follow,
stepping on heels, spitting, saying, "You're ugly. You stink. You're Bl--"
You know, the-- the usual.
As I'm going into my homeroom,
I get smashed on the head with something.
And I pick it up, and it is a purse
-with six combination locks in it. -[Hillary] Wow.
-So I picked it up… -[LaNier chuckles]
…threw it on the floor and said, "Leave me alone, white trash."
-My homeroom teacher heard me. Mm-hmm. -Mm-hmm.
So then they say, "You gotta go." That's why I was expelled.
The spitting, the pushing down the steps continued,
but I knew I was just as good as the next person.
And that's really what helped me get through it all.
You guys marched through the chaos to the honor roll.
-[LaNier] Well, yeah. -[Hillary] Hmm.
'Cause I want young people to understand that you gotta let the crazies go.
-[LaNier] You do. Yeah. -Because they're a distraction.
-They want to mess you up. -[Chelsea] And they want to distract you.
-They want to mess you up. -[LaNier] They want to mess with you.
-So, just march through. -Right.
[LaNier] So much would happen in these hallways.
We were always carrying our books,
and the reason we carried our books is because if we had them in our lockers,
they were being broken into.
-And please don't drop your books. -[Brown-Trickey] Mmm.
Because if you dropped your books,
-to pick them up… -Your head's exposed.
-…you got kicked in the rear. -Yeah.
My mom would say, "You can stay at home."
And I said, "No, I gotta go see what they're going to do to me today, right?"
[laughing]
[Chelsea] Do you think you still walk down hallways and are mindful?
-Feel safe? -Oh, I'm mindful. Uh, very much so. I--
-Because of what happened in this hallway. -Right.
And I'm-- I'm mindful of who is coming in my direction as well.
And, let me tell you,
a lot of people who grew up in Jim Crow South
-have that antenna. [chuckles] -Yeah.
We understand everything about white people.
-But it-- The reverse is not true. -That's true.
-I have a master's in whites. -[Brown-Trickey] Okay. Right.
I just want whites to get a GED in Blacks.
-That's all. -[laughing]
[Brown-Trickey] I tell young people, "Children can make presidents act."
[LaNier] You do have a voice.
You can force people in power to do things
-that they may or may not want to do. -[Brown-Trickey] Hmm. Not do.
[LaNier] Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
[Brown-Trickey] Very extraordinary things.
[Hillary] Here's our church,
-the First United Methodist Church. -[Chelsea] Yeah.
-We spent a lot of time there. We also-- -Every Sunday.
And I do remember being so embarrassed when it was maybe Mother's Day,
and it was the children's moment--
-Oh, the children's moment, yes. -And-- [stammers]
They asked us all what we wanted to give our moms for Mother's Day,
and I said I wanted to give you life insurance.
I thought that meant you would live forever.
-[both laughing] -Everyone--
Everyone in the congregation was like,
"She wants to give her mom life insurance?"
And I remember being so embarrassed.
I was very touched by it. I liked it a lot.
[laughs]
Now, this really does bring up a lot of fond memories, doesn't it?
[Chelsea] Oh, my gosh, so many fond memories.
You know, I loved being a kid here,
but growing up in Arkansas wasn't always easy for Symone,
who, Mom, you may not have known before we were getting ready
to come back to Little Rock,
but I knew because I have watched RuPaul's Drag Race.
♪ The name's Symone ♪
♪ And I'm here for the throne Beat face and I'm Arkansas grown ♪
[Chelsea] Before Symone was Symone,
she was Reggie Gavin, born and raised in Conway, Arkansas,
which is pretty close to Little Rock,
and she didn't really find herself until she found drag.
America's next drag superstar is…
[Chelsea] I was so excited to see her win season 13 of Drag Race.
-Symone! -[cheering]
[Chelsea] I just shamelessly always cheer for people from Arkansas.
[Chelsea] These days, Symone lives in Los Angeles,
but she's back in Little Rock for the weekend.
And tonight, she's throwing a party with her Arkansas friends.
And they've put us on the guest list.
There she is.
I grew up in Conway, one of the smaller towns here,
and the gutsiest thing I've ever done in my life was I went to prom in drag.
Growing up, I didn't feel okay or safe being myself,
but I knew if I can walk in here, with my head held high, I can do anything.
That was actually my first time I'd ever been in public in drag.
The gutsiest Arkansan known to drag-dom. [laughs]
[Symone] After I moved to Little Rock for college,
I knew I wanted to pursue drag.
That's when I met my family, the House of Avalon.
The House of Avalon is a collective of queer artists who want to have fun,
and make the world a safer place for people,
whether that's through art, photography, drag, videos--
All the colors in the coloring box.
Whoa.
Look, you know I got my leg out, and one of my good shoulders.
-A good chicken leg and a good shoulder. -And a good shoulder.
[Symone] The House of Avalon really gave me the permission I needed
to be who I wanted to be and really explore drag and Symone.
-This will be my first prom. -[laughs] What?
-Look at that! -That's cute.
-You're going to get drunk and pregnant. -[all laugh]
[cheering, whistling]
[Grant Vanderbilt] Welcome, everyone, to the Avalon Prom.
-Yes! -[cheering]
[Chelsea] Hi!
[Chelsea] Oh, my God.
-This is a great entrance. I love it. -[cheering, laughing]
You know, I-- I need you, like, once a week.
We are always ready for a party.
This is an amazing event to be going to in west Little Rock.
[Vanderbilt] Was it different than your prom?
-That was so long ago. -[laughing]
The House of Avalon-- It's, like, in The Mists of Avalon.
-Way, way back. -[cheering]
I remember your prom.
-[partygoer] Where did you go to prom? -On a boat.
Really?
I didn't have the sequins, and I wish I did.
-[laughing] -This is, like, far more fabulous
than what I wore to my prom.
All right, I have to, like, not so elegantly,
-like-- like, swing my legs over. -[Symone] Get over it? [laughs]
I had to do the same thing.
-Yes, 'cause you have legs for days. -I do.
-You're a little kid growing up in Conway. -Mm-hmm.
Mom, what was it like for you?
I was very protective. I watched him.
-Like a hawk. -[Hillary] Were you aware of that
when you were a little kid?
Oh, yes. I-- I knew what I could and could not get away with.
I was just a helicopter mom,
and it wouldn't have mattered if he was gay, straight, purple.
-It-- It wouldn't have mattered. -[Symone chuckles]
How old were you when you started being bullied?
-First grade. I'll never forget. -Hmm.
It was one of the first days of school, and I was really excited.
I was getting on the bus, and I sat down in my usual seat.
And one of my "friends"-- I was talking, gesturing, you know?
And he said, "My God, why are you so effing gay?"
-This is a first-grader telling you this? -This was a first-grader.
I don't even know what that word means.
-You thought about suicide, didn't you? -I-- Yeah. Uh-- Yes.
-When you were nine? -Nine, yeah.
Isn't that nuts? [chuckles] But--
And you know that we have children taking their own lives right now.
-[Price] You have suicide. -Right now.
You came home one day, and I was like, "I'm-- I'm done."
I got so mad at him, and I was like,
"You don't ever have to feel that way.
'Cause if nobody else has you, I have your back."
-God bless you. God bless you. -[Symone laughs]
[Price] No matter what.
And so, then when did you discover drag?
I was probably 16 years old,
and I was watching RuPaul's Drag Race.
And I was like, "You can put on hair, makeup and clothes,
and you can do whatever you want?
I'm ready. Let's do it."
And that was what sparked it.
-It did. -So this was just
-what you saw on RuPaul? -Yeah. On RuPaul.
So how amazing is it
-that you were on that show? -Yes.
-And then you won. -And then-- And I won.
-[Chelsea] That is incredible. -There's a crown here.
You can't see it but it's there. [chuckles]
So, you're 16, you watch the show, you're like, "I could do that."
Right. I can do drag.
And I was telling people that I was doing it,
um, like-- like my friends.
And they're like, "So, are you gonna go to prom in drag?"
-And I was like… -You're like, "Can I? Can I do that?"
"Can I go to prom in drag?" I was like, "You know what? Yes, I am."
Walked up by myself.
The assistant principal was like,
"Who is that? I've never seen this student before."
-Oh. -And Mr. Lynn was like, "That's Reggie.
You didn't know he's coming in drag? Come on in, Reggie.
And if anyone says anything to you, you let me know."
-[Hillary] Oh, boy. -And I did not see that coming,
and I was like, "Let's go."
[Hillary] Isn't it interesting though?
Because you fear for your child,
-if your child is different. -Yes.
But if your child is different and not allowed
-to be who that child is meant to be… -Right.
-1000%. It's almost worse. Worse. -…then it-it's even worse.
And so, all of a sudden, you kind of realize,
"Well, the greatest gift I can hope my child receives
is to be who that child is meant to be."
-And that's what happened in your journey. -Absolutely.
Yep. Drag helped me find my voice.
It helped me be confident in who I am out of drag.
And I don't think I would've made it if I didn't have Symone.
If I didn't have myself. I can say that now.
If I didn't have myself. So, sh-- It literally saved my life.
[Vanderbilt] All right, divas. Let's get this prom started.
-Oh, is it time? -Is it time?
We're gonna make her work tonight.
-The pride of Arkansas, Symone! -[cheering]
["Home" playing]
-[kettle whistles] -[Hillary] Such an amazing trip.
Especially that time of year, so pretty.
Made me very nostalgic. I really loved being back.
It's a very special place to our family.
It is.
And thank you for driving me around, honey. [chuckles]
Oh. Thank you for trusting me to drive you around.
Although, admittedly, I would've never let you drive me around.
-[laughs] Yeah. -It was great.
And it was just so moving that we got to hear
the stories of such amazing women.
Everybody we talked to left some space.
Maybe it was a physical space, maybe a psychological space.
A leap from what was comfortable and knowable
to the unknown and, in fact, the dangerous.
People who had all made a leap of faith.
-[Chelsea] And not just for themselves. -[Hillary] Right.
[Chelsea] It was also for their children,
for their communities in a way that I find certainly incredibly gutsy
-and undeniably inspiring. -Mm-hmm.