>> good morning. >> good morning. >> we are in a moment in our country's history where leadership cannot be taken for granted. there are those who are adept and articulate in front of cameras and then there are those who are skilled and deeply committed and committed to the work of the nation. you have that kind of leadership in mark moriel. i'm going to ask you to put your hands together for the president and ceo of the national urban league. [applause] >> this is a moment where the national urban league has convened in the hometown of the ncaap.

to lift up the cause and the concern of a generation of americans who find themselves profiled and criminalized by the criminal justice system. that would be the 2.2 million americans who are incarcerated in this country, the 1 million american fathers who are incarcerated in this country. the 65 million americans who have criminal records. the one out of three african-american men who can expect to spend some time in their lives behind bars. it is a moment in our country that has been described by the scholar michelle alexander as the new jim crowe. it has been described by the scholar douglas blackman, slavery by another name. this is this era of mass incarceration. it is a moment that transcends rhetoric. it is a moment that transcends platforms and a moment that

speaks to where we are, where we are headed and what we represent as a nation. it is a moment that calls for serious policy reform. what does that mean? >> it means that we have to have sentencing reform that represents an end, global total end to minimum sentences. [applause] >> i didn't say the beginning of an end, i said the end. now, where we have mandatory minimums that represent mandatory damnation, mandatory condemning of our people to the bowels of the criminal justice system, we have to bring that to an end. ..

>> in other words, we can't back down from a commitment to ending this era of mass incarceration globally, categorically. we are also at a moment where we have to do something about policing on the front it. so in other words, where our sons and daughters, our grandsons and granddaughters, our aunts and uncles, our mothers and fathers encounters the police on the streets.

and to find themselves being treated as third class citizens in this republic. we have to bring about an end to predatory policing. how can we do that? the naacp only a few weeks ago at our national convention called upon both presidential candidates, all presidential candidates and all of the country to take what we call an american pledge to preserve and protect our lives. that is to say we are calling upon presidential candidates upon securing the office of the white house to act within 100 days to bring about an end to predatory policing. things like defunding law enforcement agencies that have been found to have engaged in the powder or practice of discrimination. that is to say, we should not be in the business of subsidizing those who are discriminate against gaza.

number two, calling for data, that is to say, transparency with respect to how we are being treated in the midst of our democracy. when the head of the fbi can't tell you what the "washington post" in chile, that if you say, how many people have lost their lives at the hands of the police, i.e., 950 last year, well over 500 this year, we have a problem. we need that kind of the data. we also need to have a minimum standards of conduct. how is it that when you drove down interstate 95 there was a speed limit, there was a steady to how is it will become to law enforcement agencies have no national standard with excessive use of force, no minimum standard of conduct, though national certification the. we can do something about that. lastly, all of these measures cannot be realized unless we use the vote.

we -- yes, on the purposes of the first presidential election in 50 years without the full protection of the buddy rice act. we are at a point in our nation's history when we have to combine the energy and protests with the practicality of the polls with the utility of policy. protests, polls and policy. every demonstrator needs to be a voter. every voter needs to be demonstrated. we need to be in the streets and that the polls en masse and in the millions. [applause] it's just not clear. -- it's just that clear. final note. if we are to do that it depends on all of us working together. we need the national urban league. you are a part of an iconic american institution. that has dedicated itself this year and at this moment to save

our cities. you are here under the leadership of marc morial. you are here as a part of a great and grand post-millennium civil rights movement. we are asking you to join with the naacp, joined with the black women's roundtable, joined with the national action network. let us join together and let us turn around this white house, turn around the senate, turn around the house of representatives, turn around this nation, and let us lead because you'd afford we've had those who talk about leadership. we've had those who pretended to be leaders by iac in this room at this time at this convention the real leaders of this country, if we call upon you to lead. [applause] >> thank you, cornell. let's give him another hand, bringing fire, bring intelligence, bringing vision. [applause]

my very good golly, our friend, melanie campbell, president and ceo. she wears two hats. the national coalition on black civic participation is an umbrella organization that works on a voter registration education and get out the vote effort. she's also the convener of the black women's roundtable which is an organization of black women who are in the forefront in business and politics, civil rights and civic affairs. she's from florida and she's been a fighter for civil rights, human rights and women's rights for over 20 years. and leading, organizing and managing successful civic engagement and civil rights issue-based campaign, she's a hard-working leader. she's a wonderful sister.

i'm so pleased she's with us again. ladies and gentlemen, please greet a good friend of the urban league movement, melanie campbell. [applause] >> good morning, urban leaguers. >> good morning. >> i'm going to say this again. that morning, urban leaguers. >> good morning. >> thank you, marc, for inviting me to join you can issue. today is a bittersweet moment for me. for this time last year those who know me, my mom and my brother isaac were with me down in fort lauderdale. my mom passed away after suffering a massive stroke on

june 15, just seven days after her 87th birthday. and y'all, she was still driving, okay? so she left the way she wanted to leave. i want to thank you, might urban league family for the love he showed my mom last year. get such a wonderful time. and for the prayers. my mom taught me so much in my life i'm especially about courage and resilience. so i know she would want me to be here with you, to take your business, to keep pushing, fighting for civil rights, women's rights and social justice. moving forward on my journey. so i just dropped by, y'all know i like to drop by. [applause] >> thank you and welcome, everyone. this week has been a whirlwind, hasn't it? we are truly blessed to be there

to partake in activities of the workshop, social events, and plan areas that have covered many issues that are of great concern to our community. the amount of power, influence that have passed through the convention. each of us, leaving each of them a bit of ourselves with us and has been beyond powerful. i hope we can understand and appreciate just how important this conference is for us. actually let's give our in ul leader, support, a round of applause for putting this all together for us. [applause] not only we ever see of the table of decision-making but also have a voice that is heard and considered in the process let's give them a hand again. [applause] >> before we go further let's take a few moments to give thanks. leading us into this endeavor will be the reverend freeman,

senior pastor of the new markets baptist church located here in baltimore. >> good afternoon. the writers said -- there are permits i can -- and their souls like stars that dwelt apart in the firmament. they are pioneer souls that the past where highways never ran. but let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man. for i see in my house outside of the road by the side of the highway of life men and women who press for hope, a man and

women who are faced with the strife. but i turn not away from their smiles with her tears, but live in my house by the side of the road and have become a friend to man. dear god, we bow our heads but we lift our eyes to your holy elite don't at all for strength and healing comes to be. we thank you for this house by the side of the road known as the national council of urban league. we thank you for their work. we thank you for their service. we thank you for their sacrifice and their support. we pray you will continue to steady and guide their hands that essay was to continue to be a blessing to this body and to someone else. we thank you for the food we will receive for the strength of our bodies and that we will use it to advance your will on earth as it is injecting vigor i pray in jesus name.

amen. spent thank you, reverend freeman. please welcome the president of the national urban league professionals. [applause] >> good afternoon. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> i bring you greetings our behalf of the more than 5000 young professionals from across this country. i am honored to serve in the capacity as president of the national urban league young professionals. i want you all to give it up for you national president of the guild, a great partnership working with you. come on y'all, give it up for your president. [applause] she works really hard for you all and i'm glad to work alongside her as we strive to continue to go forth as one

movement and the one voice for this movement of the urban league movement and as we continue to go out and empower communities and change lives. just in a final thought, we are excited to support the guild in your 75th anniversary next year. come on, 75 years. [applause] in two years the young professionals will have 20. [applause] >> look no y'all, i'm not going to say, y'all i think about food right now. but honestly i thank you for this opportunity. i see you continued to bridge that gap with dignity to hope in the transition of the young professionals and most importantly as we continue to build upon being urban leaders and continue to make sure that our mission and the work that we do continues to be shy, continue to talk about and make sure those around the community know the work we do on a continuous basis the in and day out.

you may have heard about the young professionals, we're using a new campaign. young professionals during the day but there are things we do both as guilders and his young professionals that are never talked about as we support the movement and support those individuals in our community. i wish you all a great lunch and i wish you a great conference. we've had a great conference in baltimore, right? y'all give it up for baltimore. [applause] and with that i wish you all a great lunch and. i do apologize as i'm heading off to another event but all the young professionals send our love to the guild. we honor you and look forward to continuing to work side-by-side with you as we continue to move through this movement. have a great afternoon and. [applause] >> thank you, carlos. it's been a great partnership and working with him over the last year. now let's welcome ryan, or sponsor for today's luncheon and

awards ceremony to the podium. he is the cofounder and ceo of airbnb. he drives the company's vision, strategy and growth as it provides interesting and unique ways for people to travel. under his leadership, airbnb stands at the forefront of the presidential sharing economy and has expanded over 1.5 million listings in 190 country. that's some great accomplishment, don't you agree? please give a warm welcome to brian. [applause] >> literally home sharing with people afford me to feed my children and clothing. that's the only thing that kept me afloat spee-1 it is a herculean effort to pay one's mortgage or pay one's red or even little bit you can get to

help you make that payment is a blessing. home sharing a blessing. >> it means a lot to me to be able to stay at home with my grandchild and not have to just work full time. >> people work every day but it doesn't seem to be enough financially. the reason we started because we needed a nothing, spent it's great because we could chance to meet people from different parts of the world speak because lucas and ascension -- it feels like it's an extension of our family. [applause] >> thank you, everyone. on the cofounder and ceo of airbnb. first i would like to thank marc morial and the leaders at the national council of urban league for having me today. i grew up in albany, new york. my parents taught me a lot about equality and fairness. so i'm humbled and honored to be

with you today. if you don't know too much about us, we have 3 million homes in 191 countries around the world. tonight there's about 1.5 million people living together from cultures all over the world. and we think there's something really important about what we do. which is that we allow ordinary people to be able to make incremental revenue 6000, $7000 a year on the space they have the this provides a lot of economic opportunity. it's a much bigger idea of our mission. we believe that wherever you travel to, you should be abl abo go and feel like you live in the community. and hotels are usually and a hotel district but airbnb's are typically in neighborhoods. we want to be able to bring people to neighbors if you like wherever you go you live somewhere. maybe even more important than that, when you bring 1 million people a night together from all cultures around the world, the

idea is that we want you to be able to belong anywhere. it's a very easy to look at someone else and say they look different from me, they are different than be but when you travel and to stay in their home, i think it can break down a lot of barriers. the other doesn't seem so other would injure home. this is our core mission. that being said we have had issues with discrimination on our platforms and we have zero tolerance for this. part of what i'm doing is listening. we brought him laura murphy the aclu washington, d.c.,'s office, and she's going to be helping us do a review of our system after practices. we also brought out attorney general eric holder to help us with our discrimination practice. [applause] >> the final thing is i know where the interest rate pashtun anniversary of those rights act.

it's been under attack in recent years. we have close to 100 million members around the world, and on the anniversary we are going to be doing a takeoff on our homepage to encourage people to vote because the best way to protect our rights to vote is to exercise our right to vote. [applause] the last thing come in the meantime i will be continually listening and hearing from you. we are in the end of the day community of, by and for people in neighborhoods all over the world. if your ideas that can make a stronger please let me know. and thank you for having me here today, everyone. [applause] >> thank you, brian. we greatly appreciative for the support provided by airbnb and hope we can identify more ways that we can work together our next sponsor for today's

luncheon is all state insurance. on their behalf please welcome cheryl cook, manager of corporate giving all state insurance companies. >> your hair is beautiful and don't you forget it. >> i feel my responsibility is to transmit the most honest expression that i can of the music that i do. >> these young people, they will inspire you. they will amaze you. spin maybe my great grandmother went to understand why i was farmed fish would be happy that i am happy. >> thank you, cindy. i'm excited to be here and all state has always proud to support the national urban league. that's because we share the same ideals and aspirations. in all states case that the legacy inspired by our founder, julius rosenwald.

he not only made sears roebuck a household name, regulator created all state and also was a tiny philanthropist with a special interest in education and advancement for people of color. partnering with booker t. washington, more than a century ago, he provided the seed money to build schools in rural southern communities so black children could learn to read and write and learn and dream. over 20 years ago more than 5000 rosenwald schools were built in 15 states. they are on the included mike angelo, julian bond and congressman john lewis. following his example, all state has also ported peoples and promoted progress in communities across the country. it's why for the past six consecutive years we have been listed among the top 50

countries -- companies in america diversity inc. is why we are so proud to support a national be seen as a good american history and culture. it's why in our hometowns we work with the chicago urban league on programs that provide jobs, cultural opportunities and mentoring for young people. it's what our chairman, tom wilson, raised $50 million to support efforts to reduce the awful toll of violence takes in our communities in chicago. we do all this because it's just part of our corporate dna. a little-known fact, julius rosenwald grew up in springfield, illinois, in a house literally across the street from where abraham lincoln once lived. so you see, lincoln inspired rosenwald, and rosenwald inspired all state. and for more than a century, the urban league has inspired all of us. together, we can't and do make a difference.

thank you, urban league. [applause] >> thank you for your inspiring words and accolades for the? >> guest: and all state is one of our veterans sponsors and we are extremely grateful for their continued support. our next sponsor is ford motor company. represented by pam alexander, director of community development. >> when henry ford created the $5 a day wage part of it was because he needs the workforce to be successful in his company but he also knew by opening the doors to people who might not have opportunities elsewhere in the world that he was giving them the opportunity to live their dreams. that was really, really important to him.

>> the premise of our company today is really to make people's lives better through mobility. but in addition we want to go further. we've had a long history of helping to build the african-american community. >> we can't do what we do in the committee with -- without our community partner. the mot for moral and the new smithsonian museum. there such a long history of investing in our community. that's who we partner with and its violent important because that's what the community is about. >> there are partnerships and sponsorships. sponsorship is just interested in selling whatever product they

have. a partnership is not only interested in selling their products but in uplifting our communities. that's what i am glad to be a partner with forward. >> everybody's got a dream. if we can give the people the tools to reach their dream, that's a hold of their level. [applause] >> good afternoon, national urban league. how are you? a little more energy than that. good afternoon, urban league out how are you? [applause] i'm glad to be today to say welcome on behalf of the worldwide employs of ford motor company but were poured out what to say thank you of behalf of those employers. thank you to all of you for your leadership, for your commitments, for being here this week but more important before being out in our communities the other 51 weeks of the year

investing in our youth, investing in economic power and justice so thank you for what you do. as you can see where more than 100 years old, 113 or so at this point the the goal of economic empowerment is not something new we share with everybody. you can see from the $5 a day wage that was groundbreaking. good pay, regardless of race. how many people here know someone who went or so with a whip up north for one of those jobs? usually a lot of hands go up. that was important and still is economic empowerment. you also saw since the philanthropic arm of started we have invested over $1 billion, 1.5 million dollars and nonprofits. like the urban league over time. that's 1 billion it makes you proud to be in a company that has always been there in our community. [applause] we receive thousands of requests for funding each year.

we have long-term partners like the urban league and is because of the shared goal but also because of the delivered results. the results that help to empower people to make their future brighter. it's a function of leadership. a special thank you to marc morial at a special thank you to the ceo of detroit urban league. thank you for all that you do in her hometown to make it possible for people to realize their dream. i just want some have afford again we are very proud to be a partner, to be a sponsor at this luncheon, to say thank you to continue to work together with national urban league to make progress in our communities. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, pamela. our next speaker is vice president, global communications, eli lilly and company. indianapolis leak board member. it always as a look at of measure pride when i see our board members support their companies by getting them to

come aboard and sponsor. we know it's no easy feat. it's a special to thank you for going above and beyond the execution of their duties as a trustee. ladies and gentlemen, -- [applause] >> will for 140 years that people of eli lilly have made these words our commitment. we are proud of our scientific achievements through the years. since those are the contributions progress continues in diabetes, cancer and alzheimer's disease. driving for better isn't only the products we make but how we work with others, to make life better for our loved ones, our communities and our world. [applause] >> good afternoon. it's my great pleasure to be here today representing eli lilly and company. i am so proud to be on the board

of the indianapolis urban league and i would love to give a shout out to tony mason, our ceo and president of the indianapolis urban league and his staff and two of my colleagues are sitting down at the front table. shout out to all of you. [applause] tony has been in his role for a rent of short period of time but it's been a very successful transition and he and his staff have done a tremendous job over the last year and a half. i've seen firsthand work they do every day to make life better in our communities. and i'm proud to eli lilly has been a longtime supporter of the indianapolis urban league. one of the initiatives that i am most proud of is project ready. it's a program here towards helping high school students get ready for college. tony and his staff has expanded the program in indianapolis to include over 900 students.

students in this program have achieved a 100% graduation rate. that is impressive. and it's really important because our kids are our future leaders. [applause] as a board member i've learned more about the history and important work of the national urban league but with the dramatic events that have continued to unfold around us it has become very clear to me that much work remains. there has never been a more important time for us to work together to understand and advanced diversity and inclusion. there are no easy answers but there were not easy answers to any of the challenges or problems that we face in the past either. as the company, eli lilly seeks answers to diversity challenges and opportunities into their own workforce. one way we are helping our employees deal with difficult

events is to our can we talk series. it's a series that allows us to open discussion about race in america. it's a series that is focused on imports of bringing one's whole self to work, including the willingness for people to be able to ask questions and express their feelings and to garner mutual understanding in the midst of difficult events that are happening all around us. in addition to supporting our workforce, we worked really hard to address tough diversity questions in the marketplace as well. for example, we are committed to work to end health care disparities, and one key area for us is increasing enrollment in minorities in clinical trials. our newest program is a partnership with the national center of bioethics in research and health care at tuskegee university. we are working to collaborate on

strategies, to trust and trustworthiness in clinical trials among african-americans. the multiphase project will include research, education, and community engagement. advancing diversity and inclusion for all has never been easy but it is a worthwhile goal that we must continue to work on to achieve. working side-by-side with great partners like all of you, i believe we can find answers for the difficult issues we face in our communities. i would just like to end by thanking all of you for the hard work that you all do everyday. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. please help me show appreciation to all our sponsors. airbnb, allstate insurance company and eli lilly. [applause] none of this would be possible

without your assistance and support, so we thank you again. [applause] >> this week we've had the pleasure of hearing from some of the top leaders in this country, and this afternoon we have another from the great state of maryland. governor larry job in was inoculated as the 62nd govern of the state of maryland on january 21, 2015. since taking office, he has worked tirelessly to grow maryland private sector and jobs and create more friendly future for his to his focus on improving the quality of life for marylanders, making it an easier place to live, to work, raise a family and retire with the goal of changing the state for the better. these and gentlemen please welcome the honorable larry hogan, governor of the state of maryland to the stage.

[applause] >> good afternoon. good afternoon. thank you all very much. it's great to be here with you as your official host governor. i want to take a moment to officially welcome each and every one of you to the great state of maryland, and i want to thank you very, very much for holding your 2016 national urban league conference writer in baltimore city. thank you very much. [applause] lieutenant governor rutherford is also here with us summer audi. boyd, where are you? stancu. boyd rutherford. he's been a wise and steady partner in government. is an important part of everything that we are a publishing together and the service of maryland are truly

fortunate to have him as an outstanding lieutenant governor. both lieutenant governor and i, for both of us, it is really an honor to be here among so many community and business leaders who have made it their mission to bring real change to communities and to people all across the nation. the urban league has a long and proud history with deep roots in the civil rights movement. you have built an incredible legacy of helping our nation move forward and to heal undead some of our most serious moments of division and conflict -- amid. from detroit in the '60s, to los angeles in the '90s, he right here in baltimore city just last year. and for all of your great work

we say thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i'm here today with you as the 62nd governor of the state of maryland. i am also here as a lifelong marylander who grew up in inner beltway prince george's county from a tough neighborhood of landover and capitol heights. and i'm here as someone who decided to run for office, not out of any desire to be something, but because i wanted to do something. and i know that each and every person in this room and relate to that. all of you truly understand how much is at stake. i know that the theme of your conference this year is save our cities, education, jobs and justice. so it is very fitting that you're here in baltimore city, a city rich in history, and filled with an incredibly hard-working

resolute and resilient people. but a city that has been tested. just 90 days after i became governor the worst violence in 47 years sought to tear apart the very fabric of the baltimore city. we worked hard to return peace and calm to our most important city, and our team has earned praise from all around the nation for the way we handled that crisis. but after those dark days had ended, we were faced with questions. what would happen next? we knew then that if there was any hope of truly changing this city for the better, that we had to address the long-standing and serious problems, and we had to face them head on. beginning with your priorities, education, jobs and justice,

education is and always will be our number one priority in our administration. we have delivered record investments two years in a row, $6.3 billion last year in education. but in addition our administration is also committed to thinking outside the box and advocating for innovative solutions to ensure that every single child has the opportunity to get a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in. that's why last year i announced our administration's goal to launch ptech schools in maryland with the first to writer in baltimore city that will be opening for this coming school year. ptech is an innovative program that blends high school, college and workplace experience to produce students of both the skills and the opportunities

that they need to be successful. tthrough our ptech programs students right here in baltimore city will be able to have the chance to gain in demand skills that employers need in the 21st century workforce, and employers care in maryland will gain a steady pipeline of the most highly skilled professionals. our state is already proud to be fellow of the most highly skilled workforce in the entire nation. but i stressed over and over again that in order to create more jobs and more opportunities, but we must address the divide we have seen in our schools. and while we make sure that in a constantly evolving jobs landscape that our children have the tools that they need to succeed, we must also make sure that our communities foster economic development and economic empowerment. fortunately, our state is making

incredible progress. we've added more than 74,000 new private sector jobs. we've gone from last place in the mid-atlantic region and job creation to first place in the mid-atlantic region and job creation. and marched we moved to number one in the entire nation. [applause] our small state of maryland not only did we have the fastest rate of job growth every state in the country but our little state actually added more actual jobs than any other escape in the country. [applause] we are fighting to bring thousands of new jobs to those areas of our state where unemployment is highest, including bright here in baltimore city. and to improve access to those jobs we are investing in our transportation infrastructure,

including $135 million to completely transform baltimore city's entire? >> guest: system. we are working hard to find ways to restore our communities and to keep our streets safe. earlier this year we announced a historic initiative called project core to address the long-standing problem of light across the city. we are investing $100 million in polite removal and providing another $600 million in financing opportunities for redevelopment just over the next couple of years. project core is not just about tearing down unsafe and unsightly buildings that are a hotbed for crime and drugs. it's about rebuilding, revitalizing and transforming this entire city. in addition, i recently signed into law that justice reinvestment act which was the product of months of bipartisan negotiation and debate aimed at

protecting maryland citizens and modernizing maryland criminal justice system. these laws will finally help our state break the cycle of incarceration and create an enjoyment of economic opportunity for every marylander. it will be an important tool in the ongoing fight against heroin and opioid emergency, a crisis that has plagued cities and communities from one end of the country to the other. and we have been leading the nation on this fight, and lieutenant governor boyd rutherford has been leading the effort in our state, chairing the maryland heroin and opioid emergency task force. i want to again recognize him and thank him for his continued leadership. [applause] our justice for investment act also allows our state to improve

reentry outcomes and to provide second chances to those who have served their time and have it decided to be law-abiding and productive citizens are now, baltimore just like all of our cities does face some serious challenges. but we are committed to finding solutions. and i've always said that i don't care which side of the aisle that those ideas come from, but that we must find bipartisan commonsense solutions to the serious problems that face us. in order to do that, we must all be willing to work together to be a part of the solution. we must seek to empower instead of seeking to demonize. because we must not give up on our cities, and we simply cannot afford to leave anyone behind. [applause]

thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be here with you today. i don't want to thank, say thank you to all of you who contribute so much to improving our communities. your success truly is baltimore's success, and the success of cities all across america. god bless you, and may god bless the urban league. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, governor helping to we appreciate your hard work and for taking time to be here to support the conference this year. let us give the governor another round of applause. [applause] our next speaker is acting commissioner of the social security administration. there is no greater calling than

public service. polling out of her own retirement, she returned to public service at the request of president barack obama to serve as deputy commissioner for the social security administration in january 2011. since april 14, 2013, she has served as acting commissioner. recently inducted into the national forum for black public administration hall of fame ending one of baltimore's sons, 50 women to watch, brings more than 30 years of senior executive leadership, experience to the agency. she has led numerous talks in human service organizations at the state and municipal level. including very these capacities within the social security administration. ms. coleman also serves as a member of the social security board and trustee and national

academy of public relations fellow. please welcome commissioner carolyn w. colvin. [applause] >> good afternoon. it's such an honor to be here with you today. i was first want to thank marc morial for extended his invitation for me to speak come and for his exceptional leadership for this great organization. i also want to thank jay howard henderson, president and ceo of the greater baltimore urban league. i want to thank all of you for what you do. thank you. [applause] >> i've been a supporter of the urban and since i was a young woman unfolded for many years. i'm committed to the work of this historic civil rights organization and i am very proud

to be in the midst of such a dedicated and public individuals such as yourselves. we are in an incredible period in american history, but there are so many opportunities to make a difference in the lives of those who are in need. i am so proud to show the american public as the acting commissioner of the social security administration. this is an organization that has impacted the lives of so many americans. the work that we do is extremely important, but it is also the work of accelerates such as yours that is so extremely important. at the federal level we understand that we are quite limited in what we can actually accomplish if we don't have any of the local resources. the men and women with their boots on the ground to help shape our policy and to meet the

needs of the public that we serve. your role as leaders of urban league guild is vital to making this happen. with my brief time today i want to talk just a little about why social security is on board to the american public and why you partnership is so vital to us. one of my priorities as acting commissioner has been to ensure that everyone understands their social security protections. this is especially important in our cities where many people faced serious economic this vantage is. our newest slogan is social security is with you through life's journey. government agencies pashtun fewer government agencies touched so as the social security administration. our services to every american and is a part of the american fabric. social security is a fair on day

one with a social security card number that stays with you throughout your lifetime. it's there with you as you grow, protecting your family in case of disability or death. it is there with you when you get your first job helping the employer secure identity and report your earnings accurately. it is there for you if you become sick or disabled to help you cope by replacing a portion of the lost income. it's there when you marry to protect your new family and change your name if you wish. and, of course, this therefore you at your retirement to provide extra measure of financial security. although we usually don't like to think about it, americans need to be financially secure not only for tomorrow but also for what could happen to any of us today. by following workers through

life's journey of social security ensures that comes have something to fall back on in old age or in the event of a catastrophic illness, injury or death. however social security was never intended to be the sole source of one's retirement income. yet all too often it is. among african-americans, more than one-third of elderly married couples receive social security rely on it for all or nearly all of their income. for those who are not married, more than half do. these figures are higher than the national average. while all segments of the population need to save more, africa americas asia and the challenges when it comes time to prepare for retirement. the average african-american household, only 6 cents for every dollar in wealth held by the typical white family.

and african-american, family are more than twice likely as whites to hold no financial assets at all and have zero or negative net worth. not surprisingly retirement savings is disproportionately low among the population. most african-american households have less than $10,000 in retirement and nothing in a retirement account. the fact is retirement is a serious problem in this country for people of all cultural background, but for american come african-americans already have a huge wealth gap to close, the situation is even more distressing. to enjoy a comfortable retirement, workers should take a so so so good as a foundation to each of the continued with other sources or combined with other sources of income like pensions, savings and

investment. so far i have talked mostly about social security but we also manage the suborbital security income program known as ssi. ss i is a needs based program for elderly, blind and disabled people with limited income. and unlike social security, people do not need to have worked to qualify for ssi. this program is particularly essential to many african-americans since african-americans who receive ssi are more likely than the general population to live in poverty. ssi benefits averaged only about 75% of the federal poverty rate for individuals and just over 80% for couples. that's not a lot of money to live on but it goes a long way to reducing the number of people in extreme poverty.

many people who qualify for ssi never apply. please help us get the word out to people who need this program but maybe too proud to apply or just don't know that it is available. so why am i sharing this with you today? as i mentioned, i need your help. as gilda leaders to interact on a regular basis with individuals and families who need to be informed about financial planning. although we can do only so much, but together we can make a real impact on the facts i mentioned earlier. i want to again extend my warmest congratulations to those of you who are being honored today. i'm certain are being given this recognition because you have demonstrated how important and committed you are to this organization and the principles for which it stands.

i noted at the beginning that social security is with you through every stage of your life, and this is so important for everyone in this country but it is especially critical for those in our society who must get by on less income and have fewer opportunities just to get ahead. so i encourage you to visit social security.gov for a wealth of information and online tools related to this program. but i hope you will share this information with your resources. i also welcome all of you to stop by in the exhibit hall to our booth at our staff will be happy to answer any questions or how many of you in the audience have established a my social security account? thank you to those people have been for those of you who have not come to support so you can check your earnings statement each year. we are very good at social security of the could make a mistake. we record the wages of

176 million individuals and we want to make sure that we've got your information correct because the benefit you will ultimately receive will be based on the information we have on your earnings. again i want to congratulate you. i want to commend you for the very important work that you do with this organization. thank you so much for taking the time to listen to me. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, commissioner golden. your spirit of served as a great importance and we greatly appreciate it. next comment is one of the most respected, revered, successful attorneys in the country. and i daresay in the world. listed as the second most successful attorney practicing today, he is not other than mr. whitley d. garrett, attorney extraordinaire from the law firm

of garrett, williams, watson and gary, p. llc. he earned the reputation as a giant killer by taking down some of america's most well-known corporate giants in behalf of his claims. he has won some of the largest jury awards and settlements in u.s. history. including cases valued in excess of $30 billion. is an amazing success has earned him national recognition as one of the countries leading trial attorneys. last year he made headlines with a stunning 23.6 and dollars verdict against r.j. reynolds tobacco. his desire to be the best and compassionate work ethic he learnt through his humble beginnings. the georgian it is one of 11

children raised in a migrant farming community in florida, georgia and the carolinas. known as a businessman, churchmen, humanitarian and philosopher, he is deeply involved in charity work in civic work. he is committed to enhancing allies that young people and through education and drug convention. hizorn the gerry foundation to carry out this formidable task. the gerry foundation provides scholarships direction and other resources to use. he has pledged $10.1 million to his alma mater. he's also donated millions of dollars to dozens of historically black colleges and universities throughout the u.s.a. in addition to being a lawyer, philanthropies and motivational speaker, gary continues to serve on the board of trustees of numerous universities and

foundations your he has received honorary doctorates and dozens of colleges and universities, and is active in numerous community organizations from the urban league to the naacp. ladies and gentlemen, welcome the giant killer, mr. whitley gary. [applause] >> i want you to know that after orchestra that introduction, rest assured that your check will be in the mail next week. let's give her a big and. [applause] >> to the mayor, the governor and to my good friend, and to all of those that are here to make up this urban league family, it's a pleasure to be here with you and to be a part

of this special gathering here today. i'm excited. and again i want to thank you for those very kind and generous remarks. after standing there and listening to you said all of those good things about me, it started to get good. and just as you about to finish i wanted to tell her to just keep on talking. [laughter] but it is gratifying to have done something while you here, and you can hear it. that's worthwhile. so i just, you know, try to thank god everyday for looking down on this our boy. i was born in georgia in the cotton fields.

and to be here in this big city and sit next to the mayor and talk to the lieutenant governor and the governor and all these, this is paul cotton for me. and i want you to know that. but you know at the end of the day no matter who you are, how much power you have or you think you have, i hope it's all right to say this. .. is it all right if i just say, lord, i thank you? is that all right? [applause]

>> and i say that because i know that when we were trying that case against one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, and they had over 100 lawyers, but just a few of us, but it didn't bother me because i knew that i knew a lawyer. can i get a witness? [applause] >> i knew a lawyer that had never lost a case. and we fought that fight, and because of this grace, we brought home the victory. i'm excited about being with the urban league today because it's been this organization and many others like the urban league that have been fighting the good fight. that has made this great nation a greater nation.

and i think we need to applaud the urban league for having done so much for so many. give yourselves a big hand. you made a difference over the years. [applause] >> and you know, i want to expand on your theme just a little bit. i know we got to save our cities and that's no question about that, but i'm thinking about our young men, our young men and women. that need role models. that need someone to look up to. i'm challenging you, and this is what i try to do every day of my life. i try to sit some young boy or girl down and tell them about what it takes to make it in life. there nor -- are no free rides. nobody is going to give you anything of but young people,

you can be whatever you want to be. don't let anybody stop you. i was told that i wasn't college material. but it didn't stop me because i wanted to be somebody. and young people, i challenge you today that don't let anybody hold you back. make it happen. i'm talking to some kids the other day and they said, well issue don't have a father, don't have this, don't have that. said, forget about that. don't want to hear it. you can be whatever you want to be. but they need us. they need role models. go to the parks and the playgrounds, wherever they are, sit our young people down and tell them about what it takes to make it. to stay away from drugs, stay away from crime. they need to hear that from us. there was a time when we idea to do that. when i was growing up everybody used to help raise everybody's child.

[applause] >> you got caught down the street mrs. jones would put you in your place, you went home and got it again. ain't going to say what you got. i'm not going to jail. but you know what i'm talking about. can i get a witness? >> yes! >> our young people need us. and it really bugs me when i see those of us who can, we make it to our ivory tower offices, and we forth get about -- forget about the least, forget about our young people. let me just tell you, i've witnessed this every day. those of white house make it and we think we got there because of our own superior brain power or intellect. first thing we do is want to hang out our "do not disturb" sign. you don't have the right to do that.

you don't have the right to put on shades of a indifference and think you got where you are on your own. because that is to say, madam mayor, israel-haired grandmother had more sense on accident than most of us have on purpose. you didn't get to where you are on your own. [applause] >> and another thing, let me just say this and i have to do this. i promised the united negro college fund i would it anywhere, anytime and that is plug historically black colleges. let's give black colleges a big hand. give it up for black colleges. [applause] >> i say that because they were there when we had no place to go. i'm not saying that your child has to go to a black college. what i am saying, don't you put black colleges down.

you have no right to do that. a lot of us wouldn't be where we are. wouldn't have an education. let me tell you something else, too. if your child can spend four years, or like in some cases, like with my boys, five or six years, if they can do that and graduate from one of our historically black colleges, chances are they've gotten one of the best educations they'll get anywhere in this nation. [applause] >> i'm a living witness to that. i graduated from shaw university. historically black college. nccu law school, black law school, and i have lawyers working for me that graduated from harvard, yale, and princeton, and i sign their paychecks every two weeks.

give black colleges another big hand. [applause] and let me tell you another thing. are you qualified? i hear those words. are you qualified? our young people are more than qualified. they just need to be given a chance. give them an opportunity. are you qualified? never forget it. are you qualified? are you -- we're more than qualified. i remember back in at the '60s when i was comb coming home from college. my wife and my son-kenneth, just got a new car. the first car i ever had. you couldn't tell me -- i couldn't wait to get home to show off my shaw university t-shirt, and to show off my car. i just had to do it. and i'm riding through georgia, of all places, and y'all talking

about being qualified. being qualified. we're more than qualified. first, let me say this. it was amazing. and this is a true story. i'm riding through georgia of all places. and you d glory told me about -- gloria told me about carrying my driver's license on me, and to this day i don't carry my driver's license on me. madam mayor, if they stop me, you have to get me out. i said to this day i don't carry my license on me. just don't do it. and i'm rolling. i'm going through georgia of all places in my little new car. got my eight track tape playing. james brown was singing "papa got a brand new bag" and i'm rolling, you understand. you talk about being qualified. and i got this -- speed up there and all of a sudden i saw a big

blue light flashing. i look up and i said, lord, have mercy. you know we forget a lot of things, but we don't forget to call on the lord. when we get in trouble. and gloria was telling me -- i newell i didn't have driver's license. i just didn't have it. but i was cruising along there, james brown singing "papa got a brand new band" and all that stuff. then i got out of the car, and i saw this tall, big belly, snuff dipping, state trooper. y'all talking about being qualified? listen to this. he had juice dripping down his lip. and he walked up to me, and i'm just shaking in my boots, you understand. and all of a sudden he said,

boy, let me see your driver's license. and i knew i didn't have driver's license on me, and i'm patting and scratching and patting and scratching, and i automatically pull out my urban league card and my -- he snatched it away from me. he said, boy, let me see what you have there. he took it, and he looked at it, and he looked at it, and he looked at it, and he said, boy, you better have your driver's license on you. get on out of here. and then he stopped me. he wanted to give me a ticket anyway. but guess what? he wanted know write the ticket out for him. and i did. but i signed his name on the ticket, and they had a warrant united states for him -- warrant out for him and not me.

thank you, and may god bless you. [applause] >> thank you, mr. gary, the giant killer. we are so honored to have you with us today. we appreciate you tremendously. please give mr. willie e. gary another round of applause! thank you. our next speaker, epitomizes what it means to be a woman of power in every way. she is dr. julian marvo. president of benedict college for women, also an economickist, an author, a highly south after political commentators whose writing have appeared in "usa today." black issues in higher education.

"ms. magazine." "essence" magazine, progressive and many more. well-known for appearances on national network programs, including cnn. b.e.t., pbs, nbc. abc. fox news. msnbc. cnbc. c-span, and many others. dr. marvo is tappedded for offering comment tear's singles ranging from economics to women's right. a civil liter -- civil leader, has held positions in policy organizations. currently she is secretary, treasurer of economic policy institute, dr. malvo is president of push excel, the educational branch of the rainbow push coalition, and author of, we are better off, race, obama, and public policy.

please welcome dr. julian marvo. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. comp on -- come on, wake up, y'all. good afternoon, everybody. >> good afternoon. >> i'm honored to be here. i want to before continuing to speak, offer our wonderful emcee -- give her a round of applause -- a copy of my most recent book which is "are we better off." i did not assert we are. "are we better off: race, obama and public policy." please enjoy. you know, i very rarely intimidated but i have to talk after the giant kill center i mean, you do not want to be in a courtroom where willie gary comes up in there. we do know standard english but

you don't use standard english when willie gary is up in there. and matter of fact if you are tobacco company or if you messing up, you better take your wallet and run when willie gary comes up in there. and so i did -- my brother, my friend, we go back, we pork -- worked together. didn't we co-host a television show for two minutes? i had to let the brother go. go, willie with your bad self. give him a round of applause. he stands there for us and is just a total bomb. [applause] >> i am grateful to the urban league for so many reasons. they have transformed much of our great migration, and african-american people came north from the south, the urban league was the buffer to ensure that we were able to settle in many ways that we could not settle, and as i'm grateful for that from a policy perspective, but also grateful to the league

because they have always been among my many supporters. the team from indianapolis, i was just with y'all, and such a good time with y'all. thank you. i think people are creative. they don't give you plaques. they give you vases and -- orange is my favorite color so they give me a vase with orange in it. one day a week i try not to wear red or orange. this was the day. so i put on blue in case i didn't look like myself but that indianapolis team, y'all were amazing. you had a wonderful lunch. what i liked most was that you also had the young people there. that their program really brings in high school students and college students and they're sitting there at the launch. we don't do our young people right sometimes. sometimes we have them -- we lift them up or because the lunch cost $30, $40, $50, whatever, cost enough for us to buy it. we got them sitting outside eat

can samisms. and then two or the get to come in. they that those young people sitting in the lunch, young people speaking at the lunch, with everyone else. i hope that my dear friend mark, lifts the indianapolis group it as an example of what some of the other urban leagues and other organizations -- some leagues do it but a lot of our organizations don't. i'm just grateful to y'all for letting us know that black lives matter. i was told when i came here today -- the theme is "save our cities" and" education, jobses and justice" but i got this e-mail saying we want to talk about all lives matter. first i was going to get a little attitude. know that all lives matter. all lives have not always mattered. when we have not -- when you saw all lives matter, you're assuming that someone by saying black lives matter puts somebody else's life down.

then i thought about what the intent had to be from the urban league guild because this is such a powerful organization. found by molly moon, to raise money, to ensure that the leagues had wings. i had the privilege of meeting molly moon years ago in new york, and actually having read about her. she was quite the socialite but she was one of those folks, like ron brown, who believe you can do well and do good at the same time. so, sister was fly. the first time i met her i was so wide-eyed because i was trying to count the diamonds on her. and figure out how could i get that dress. but she had the socialite thing going and the activist thing going, and i said if these are molly moon's people, what they mean, when they say all lives matter, is we need to lift up the lives that people don't pay attention to. so a life i want to talk about for just a few moments is that

dr. sadie alexander, she was a secretary of the national urban league from 1930 to 1957. she was the first african-american woman to get a doctorate in economics so i always consider her my foremother. they're just a handful of us african-american women who do have or have earned that degree. doctor sadie was an amazing woman whose life could be swallowed if we don't remember that history belongs to she who holds the pen. she who tells the story. she who does the history. and i must say, dr. sadie alexander was also the first president of -- -- i know there's some red and white in the house. the doctor told me i onessed supposed to say woo from the microphone but i didn't. just told you what he told me i wasn't supposed to do but in any case, the story about

dr. alexander that is so relevant in terms of the "black lives matter" movement, the "all lives matter" movement, the national urban league, she got her doctorate in 1921. against all odds, people not paying her any mind. the dean of the -- she actually got a ph.d, couldn't find a job teaching. went to work as an actuary at north carolina mutual, came back to philly and got a law degree. first black woman to matriculate at the university of pennsylvania, against all odds. yep. they told her -- the deep of the law school instructed other people not to speak to her. so that she was hazed and isolated. once she wrote in ore journal after a particularly difficult day she had walked through the rain to try to find a building and she approached two young white women and said where's the building and they wouldn't speak to her. when she got home she wrote in

her journal, imagine seeing the people that you ask the question sitting in a front row of the class. i am all alone, lord, all i have is you. and i think when we talk about "black lives matter," we have to talk about sadie. because that faith was that something was going to get her through. sadie wrote her doctoral dissertation on the might great lake -- the economic status of 100 negro families in pennsylvania. she created consumption indexes before the bureau of labor statisticsed had done so. why is this relevant? again, because somebody has tried to swallow that lady's life. somebody tried to say her life did not matter. and so you have a stellar woman who -- y'all didn't know about. maybe three-quarters. i'm not going to ask because we don't know a lot of stuff about us because nobody tells us and

we didn't look and yet we know a whole lot of minutiae about hope. now, i'm not -- i always come to places like this -- i ain't going to talk about politics because they didn't ask me to. but stuff happens. like you turn on the television and they have fools pontificating. we have our maryland governor here. don't usually give republicans a shoutout but the man is a man of courage. said he was not going to conform to his crazy party, who found something in a turnip patch and decide to make that their nominee. indianapolis people clapping because they already had me so they used to me. they're like, she wasn't going to act up. i wasn't going to act up. but you know, well know more than we need to know about mr. trump and all his offspring, but we don't know -- and his many marriages, by the way. i'm not going there.

i swore i wasn't going there. i'm leaving there. but we don't know about sadie. we have to make room for the sadie alexanders of the world in our head and history book. the urban league guild has to be proud they nurtured a sadie for 27 years as a secretary of this organization, and when we talk about what matters, we have to talk about the mattering of the lives that we all too often don't pay attention to. and if we didn't get sadie, who had a doctorate and a law degree and all that, then what about the folks we don't even pay attention to because they don't have -- excuse my language -- but no degrees you. got degrees and the no ds. so who asked about the story of the sister who is outside directing us to go to this room or that one? who is asking about the story of the young brother who yesterday so kindly carried my heavy bag, which i was foolish enough to bring and knew i would have to do all this walking do we know

his story? did he graduate from signal trying to go to college? we talk about education, saving people's lives but do we really begin to actualize that? so when we talk about lives that matter, it is about what we are doing to honor life and to lift life up. we can't save our cities in theory. we can't save our cities, city by city. we'll save our cities', life by lives. street corner by street corner. we'll save them block by block. we'll save them when we decide that the suburbs and the inner city deserve the same kind of education as opposed to those gaps. today we learned that the unemployment rate went down just a tick to 4.08. but the black unemployment rate remains double. how come we can't close that gap? are we committed to closing that

gap? do we accept that gap as just how it is? oh, well, people will say, the unemployment rate went down under president obama. yes, it did. but, no, he didn't. he didn't move black folks backwards but he could have done a whole lot more in my opinion -- y'all can into if you want to -- to move us forward. i'm good with it. don't throw anything too large unless it's a diamond or a nice sized bill i can do something with. looking for the shoes with the red bottoms on them. so you can throw those, too, if they're size ten. all i'm saying is, we have accepted less than we should when we talk about saving our cities. we have not heard from this administration or, quite frankly, aggressively enough from our platform, about urban policy. what are we going to do about our cities?

you can't just save cities. you got to talk about how we revive, revitalize, i love that stephanie rawlings blake was here, mayor of baltimore. amazing woman. didn't she tear it up at the democratic national con sentence were you watching? she was seriously calls this. but also didn't we have an contrast when states cam forward who report their results? wasn't that optical contrast in our states with three and four people with different ethnicities and them other people who remain nameless because i already stepped off the reservation twice who had 18 black delegates out of how many thousand? 18. 1-8. what i want to say to us, when we talk about lives mattering, is lives will only matter if they matter to us. they will only matter if we do the work. who is doing the work? this is -- i love coming to urban league conventions because

just -- it's family, it's dna. mark is a good friend and ain't amazing leader. you're blessed to have him. love being at urban league conventions, by more love being in the streets with the folks of if we are going to make change, going save our cities, one of y'all, all of y'all, going to have to take a young person by the hand to to a school, give something, say something, be something, and if you don't do it cause you want to do it for sadie. think about her. i at any time tell you her whole story. they're saying please wrap. they did it to al sharpton one time at the democratic convention. the podium started going down. to brother man bent over and he couldn't bend but so far, so some point he had to say, thank you very much. anyway, i can first take my shoes off if the podium start going down because i got a few

inches to work with imi'm just kidding. what i want to say is i want those who don't know about saysie alexander to google her to understand this amazing woman, and then i want you to then understand is that when we say that all lives matter, i'm talking -- we're talking about the minutiae of lives about what happens in our city, when you get in the morning, young brother or sister, leave your house hoaxer to walk through crime go to a school that is raggedy, sid there with an indifferent teacher go home and your mama doesn't have a job and neither does your dad and have to figure it out. if we're going save our cities we have to deal with the minutiae. all lives matter when we make them matter. and that includes, more than includes, encompasses all black lives. thank you all so very much. it's so good to be with you, and thank you for not lowering the podium. [applause]

>> thank you, again, for join us this afternoon. let show us our appreciation again. [applause] earlier this week we had the honor of presenting are our guild awards. please join me now as i bring to the stage our first place winners of community service. in the central region, the milwaukee urban league guild, my league, la von craig, gail president, ralph holman, president and e ceo, nora, board chair, and kathy trotter, the regional coordinator. [applause]

>> thank you, milwaukee. in the eastern region, the greater baltimore urban league, where our president and host, barbara redman, is the guild president, j. howard henderson, president and ceo, clarence campbell, board chair, and angela simmons-smith, regional coordinator. [applause]

[music] >> congratulations baltimore. and our southern region, the austin area urban league. car lean phillips is our guild president. w. teddy mcdaniels iii, president and ceo. valerie hill, board chair. lieu -- lucretia, our vice president of the council of urban league guild. ♪ sunset ♪

♪ >> congratulations and our western region, the los angeles urban league guild, where our president is betty price, nolan rawlins, president and ceo, noah macy, board chair. [applause] ♪ ♪

>> and fundraising, in the central region, our first place winner is the fort wayne urban league, nicole conrad is the guild president, board chair, larry jackson, and again, our regional coordinator is kathy j. trotter. going to accept on their behalf? ♪ ♪

>> next in the eastern region, sandra moon hightower, guild president. patricia coulter, board chair, angela simmons-smith, regional coordinator for the philadelphia urban league. [applause] ♪ ♪

next, the southern region first place, the urban league guild of greater atlanta. pamela haggar is her president, nancy johnson, president and ceo, nick nelson, board chair, and lucretia wood, our national urban league guild vice president. ♪ ♪

>> okay, again in our western region, the los angeles urban league guild, betty price, guild president. nolan rawlins, president and ceo. betty ellis, our regional coordinator. ♪ ♪ >> now we will present the molly moon award. the 2000 molly moon award for volunteer service goes to mr. johnny miller. [applause] johnny is essential -- the essence of the word and actions

of a volunteer. he has been an active member of the urban league guild for over 25 years. and has been involved in the urban league since his youth. mr. miller, who has been a chair person and league coordinator for the guild's civic engagement project for ten years help coordinates the efforts with the city of milwaukee, election commission, is the chief inspector of the polling site, metropolitan baptist church. mr. miller finds time to serve as the guilder's digital historian, and photographs eve guild event, shares the story of service to the milwaukee community. from milwaukee throughout the united states, there's no more dedicated volunteer than mr. johnny l. miller. he can be compared to the character of superman. he is everywhere fight are for justice, milwaukee to selma, and

to the steps of our capitol. please help me congratulate mr. johnny miller, the 2016 recipient of the molly moon award and from my guild, my home town now, milwaukee. [applause] ♪ ♪ sunset ♪ ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our luncheon and awards ceremony. it also kicks off the guild's celebrating our 75th year next year. our theme will be "a legacy of compassionate dedication of service in the movement." again, we encourage you to continue to take part in the remaining events listed in your program for this conference. the career fair are still in full swing so stop by. and tonight is the big whitney n. young gala awards and dinner. i hope to see many of you there. in the interim, enjoy the rest of your day. thank you. thank you.

thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> the national urban league finishing up award presentation and speeches. this session, along with the morning panels and speeches on race and incarceration will be

available on our web site later today. go to c-span.org. more from the national urban league conference coming up live at 2:30 eastern today, bringing you panels on voting rights and the november elects with maryland democratic, senator ben cardin and other speakers. our road to the white house coverage continues today. donald trump will hold a rally tonight in green bay, wisconsin, c-span will have live coverage of that starting at 8:00 eastern, and earlier today we covered hillary clinton speaking to african-american hispanic journalists. you can see that again tonight. leading toupe the start of the panel on voting rights and the 2016 election, portion of today's "wall street journ." >> joining us now is julie fro steenhuysen. he is joining us from chicago and will give us update s 0o then zika virus in the united states and the effort to prepare for olympic friday rio. good morning.

thank you for joining us. >> guest: good morning. thank you for having me. >> host: we have here in the united states, in florida, 15 confirmed cases of zika. can you give us the latest, the update of where things standnd there? >> guest: well, yesterday there was a press conference but there were no new cases. as they -- they have in that one-mile square radius theyisol isolated in miami-dade county, they have cleared out ten blocks, which means they've gone door-to-door and tested people and have said, we don't think zika is in any of these areas. so they're really going systematically to try to identify where the virus is. the biggest challenge is these mosquitoes, zika spread by mosquitoes, and it likes to live right with humans. humans are its only food source

so people -- and it can survive in -- like a tiny capsule ofg water, so it's hard to eliminate breeding sites for the mosquito in florida, i believe yesterday they started an aerial insecticide spraying campaign to get at these mosquitoes. it's droplets from the air. apparently kills the adult mosquitoes. and they found that -- they set out mosquito traps and found a large proportion of those mosquitoes were dead. so they feel like they've made some progress there. >> host: okay. as you reported in reuters about that aerial online spraying, says the campaign will cover a ten mile areas that includes the one-mile square -- one square mile area north of downtown miami that health officials identified as the hub of zika

transmission in the state. officials said this week. now, we have been focusing on this one-mile area. how likely is the virus to spread or is it really possible for officials to keep it within that one-mile radius? >> guest: well, the limitation of this mosquito is kind of interesting.ki it can only fly 150-meteres, which is why what they did is they expanded the radius around the area where they believe the mosquito is but one mile square is a lot bigger than 150 meters. they're trying to have a buffer zone. the hope is -- they know the mosquito likely infected mosquitoes likely won't fly out, but zika is a virus that many people don't know they have it. only one in five people have symptoms. so the problem, and the challenge, is that people who are infected with zika will visit that area, become

infected, and they will travel, and a mosquito will -- another mosquito will bite them and they will transport the virus to another area. they'll infect the mosquito population, and then you have another minioutbreak, and that is the concern.th think that's what ware working on trying to contain at the moment. >> host: we're talking to julie steen eh euyse at reuters about the zika virus. we have special lines. speaking of geographic regions, julie, right enough we see it in florida. what are the regions, if zika were to spread, that this t mosquito that carries the virus could live? >> guest: well, it's believed to

be -- it's a tropical mosquito, so if you think like -- miami is the most likely place but any area that has those -- lots of heat, tropical conditions. so you're talking about gulf coast states.. areas of texas. it's actually -- these mosquitoes are in populations in the los angeles area.ar and it's believed that these mosquitoes are also along the east coast. there is another mosquito, and this mosquito has a larger range. so far it hasn't been seen as much in this population but this mosquito is believed to be competent of carrying the zika virus, and it's also called the asian tiger mosquito, this one can range as far as the midwest, but they really haven't seen zika in this mosquito so it's not so much of a concern.

the biggest concerns are these -- the gulf states, particularly other areas in florida, and in los angeles. i know, and up the east coast a little bit. just the warmer parts of southern east coast states are concerned as well. >> host: we have patrick calling in from tavares, florida, good morning, patrick. >> caller: good morning. >> host: you're on with julie. >> caller: good morning, julie. i actually had a question about containment of the zika virus here in central florida as well as north florida. because from what i understand is that from the very first neighborhood that was tested for

zika, immediately found over 13 people infected, and that being said, it sounds more of a pandemic than epidemic at that, and it seems that for us to not fund the zika virus budget, i don't understand why we wouldn't take this serious as it really is. >> host: okay, patrick, let's let julie respond to your concerns. >> guest: well, i mean, you're absolutely right. it is a -- it's considered a global health emergency. the world health organizationar declared zika a -- in february, this virus has a particular -- is a particular threat to pregnant women, and you always have to remember that this is why we're concerned about zika. pregnant women -- it's been shown that zika can cause the birth defect, microreceively --

mike microcephaly and other birth are related issues in the fetus of someone who has been infected during pregnancy.fe so this is really the major concern. it's likely someone traveled to this neighborhood and were infected with zika. a mosquito bit them. and it became infectious and then started biting other peoplo in this area. and that's why they're containing it -- that's why they're focusing on this area. it's possible someone willa travel from this area to another area in florida, other people who have traveled will infect other mosquito populations in the area, and it's very important for people to payo attention, do you have symptoms of zika? but you also -- there's a role that people can play.yo you need to look in your own

backyard. that's where the mosquito likes to live. dump out containers of water.do do whatever you can to eliminate breeding sites, and if you're pregnant you need to wear insecticide or insect repellent, and take the precautionses the cdc recommends. but you also mentioned funding. that is a whole other issue. i think zika has become politicized which is unfortunate because there is a risk and the risk is to unborn babies. >> host: let's take a look at what president obama said about the spread of zika here in the united states. >> we are now seeing the first locally transmilted cases of the zika virus by mosquitoes in the continental united states. a this was predicted and predictable. we have seen 15 cases the in the miami area.

we're taking this seriously. the cdc experts are on the ground working with florida health are authority little there's a very aggressive effort underway to control mosquitoes there, and pregnant women have been urged to stay away from the particular neighborhood we're focused on. we'll keep working as one team, federal, state, and local to stop the spread.do not i want to be clear, though -- the kind of mosquitoes that are most likely to carry zika are limited to certain regions of our country. but we cannot be complacent because we expect to see more zika cases. even though the symptoms for most people are mild, and may never even know they have it, we have seen that the complications for pregnant women and their babies can be severe. so i again want to encourage every american to learn what they can do to help stop zika by going to cdc.gov.

in addition, congress needs to do its job. fighting zika costs money. helping puerto rico deal with the zika crisis costs moneyre research into new vaccines, and nih just announced the firstir clinical trials in humans. that costs money and that's why mid a energies proposedden urgent request for more funding back in february. not only did the republican-led congress not pass our request,ep they worked to cut it, and then the left for summer recessmm without passing any funds for the fight against zika. meanwhile experts at the nih and cdc, the folks on the frontlines have been making do by moving fund from other areas. now the money we need to fight zika is running out. the situation is getting critical. >> host: that's the president, speaking yesterday, a little bit more on that from politico today. said the president said the news

of 15 locally acquired cases of zika in south florida was both, quote, predicted and predictable. and blamed members of congress for not approving the administration's request for 1.9 billion to fight the mosquito-born virus. the president has called on congress to act, congress is currently in recess.co julie, you were saying that the issue has become politicized. how essential is this funding and what would the funding do? >> guest: well, i think the funding would good for research. zika is -- has been around -- it was first discovered in 1947 in uganda but only really presented itself as a threat very recently, first in brazil, and then spread rapidly in countries in latin america and caribbean

and now the united states. there has been very little research on this virus because it was only recently that people made the connection between zikh and microcephaly. and otherwise zika is a fairly mild illness compared to the other illnesses.a so, there hasn't been very much research at all, which means that they had to start from scratch for developing a vaccine, for making diagnostics to even tell whether or not a person has been infected, and then anyway head to to sort out because the virus is so similar to other viruses like chikungunya and dengue which causes disease as well and are cared we these mosquitoes, they have to have special tests to sort of sort out which antibiotics -- which virus were you infect with? and assess the threat in that way.th so, there's been a whole lot of progress, they have diagnostics

now continue to develop new ones. research has begun on vaccines but the nih said they've reached a point where they're running out of money. they have borrowed as much money from other programs as i can and if we are to develop these vaccines we need money. and -- it's major issue. >> host: up next, richard from massachusetts. good morning richard. >> caller: good morning. whenever we have a crisis like what is happening now with zika, it's always, we need money, we need money. everything is money in this country. and my second question is, when you said one out of five people get symptoms -- i never heard what the symptoms are. i just hear, symptoms, and we need money to get a vaccine. what is the symptoms? i don't hear that. >> host: okay. >> caller: i'll listen to you

and thank you for taking my call. >> host: julie, tell us about the symptoms. >> guest: okay. so, symptoms are fairly mild generally. people develop a rash. they develop fever. body aches. you feel kind of crumby, and this lasts for about a week, and that's pretty much what zika is. if you develop symptoms. there are some people who do develop a rare nerve disorder called guion barre syndrome. it can affect -- cause a temporary paralysis and in some cases people have to be on a respirator because they cannot breathe. they can't work their lungs because the muscles are paralyzed. so that's serious. that is very rare.

he concern with zika is the impact on unborn child. a right now they aren't exactly sure when in a pregnancy a womai is most at risk.gn so you have to do the research on that to find out, like, if i'm infected in the first trimester, am i more -- is my baby more likely to have a -- severe birth defect. if i'm infected in the third trimester?r? that research needs to go on.. also -- they need to understand -- like, some people have estimated that a child who has microcephaly -- basically that's the brain has stoppeded growing and the nerve cells that are developing in the fetus have been attacked and in some cases the brain actually shrinks back, and it causes very -- depending on how severe the injury is, it can cause blindness, it can

cause -- it can cause still births so maybe the baby wouldn't survive. if it does survive, lots of issues. there's a deformity in the headd they may not be able to swallow properly. may not be able to hear or see. and there are some estimates that this will -- carrying over a lifetime for a person with microreceively costs $10 million. so that's a lot of money. just for one child. o >> host: julie is joining us from chicago, focusing on the latest medical breakthroughs as well as twist and turns of infectious diseases sufficient as bieb ebola and now zika. now we have tim from north carolina. good morning. >> caller: good morning. the question is, i heard you say early on that zika was transmitted from mosquitoes to mosquito, but initially i only

heard it was transferred from mosquito to human and from human to mosquito. which one is correct? >> guest: the latter is correct. if i saved mosquito to mosquito, i made a mistake. you are absolutely right. s the mosquito will take a blood male out from an infected -- blood meal from an infected person, takes a couple days to process that and get the virus back in their salivary gland and then they'll pass it ton another human being. but it's the people who are infected are the ones who are infecting the mosquito population. so it's this cycle, but, yes, it's correct, that mosquitoes become infected by a human being who has the virus, the virus works its way through the mosquito's body and then can infect another person. the interesting thing about this mosquito is that it can last for up to a month, and it doesn'ter bite just once.