The Day Eartha Kitt Clapped Back at the President
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2025
⏱️ 3 minutes
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Summary
What do you get when you combine the original Catwoman with the President of the United States and a heavily protested war? The answer is very truthful. Very not down for foolishness.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What do you get when you combine the original Catwoman with the President of the United States and a heavily protested war? |
| 0:08.4 | The answer is very truthful. |
| 0:11.4 | Very not down for foolishness. |
| 0:15.8 | I'm Len, and this is Too Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:31.1 | On a Thursday afternoon in January of 1968, Ertha Kitt, along with dozens of other women, |
| 0:39.1 | attended a White House luncheon with the |
| 0:41.1 | President and First Lady to discuss |
| 0:43.1 | juvenile crime and delinquency. |
| 0:46.5 | Now, Kit didn't even want to attend |
| 0:48.9 | to begin with, but when she did, |
| 0:51.0 | and the President asked her about her take |
| 0:52.9 | on the issue, she's still on business. |
| 0:56.5 | While many Americans protested the Vietnam War, three presidents refused to end it. Kid spoke her |
| 1:05.2 | truth, stating that the youth were angry because their parents are angry, because there is a war going on that they don't |
| 1:13.0 | understand. You send the best of this country off to be shot and named? They rebel in the street. |
| 1:20.4 | Kit knew her response wouldn't go over well with the assembled guests, but many years later, |
| 1:26.2 | after being surveilled by the CIA and having her |
| 1:29.2 | career tanked for nearly a decade, she stood by her words. |
| 1:35.2 | It didn't matter to Earth a Kit that having the conviction to speak her truth would ultimately |
| 1:39.7 | hurt her. |
| 1:40.8 | She was determined to use her power and position in Hollywood to counter the narratives the |
| 1:45.6 | White House and media were spreading. |
... |
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