platter. he blessed us with a 1988 book. he lifted us all with his brilliant run. jesse jackson concluded that campaign but that phenomenal spee in atlanta georgia. it is enough to bring tears to your eyes. it is the birthplace of the drum major for justice. it was in atlanta georgia. jesse jackson stood in the all -- the old cradle. he went in as the democratic

party. that ought to bring chills to your body as you think of the spiration. can you hear him now? he would say i understand what it means to be looked down upon. i understand what that means to be held back because of something over which i have no control. i understand he came from a broken background. he has brought healing to this nation and healing to so many lives. since i'm a preacher, i might

as well " the bible. it said he was wounded f our transgressions and bruised from our iniquities. he said we are healed. jesse jackson comes from a background where he has been bruised. the brilliance of it is the nation has experienced a healing that we would not have experience had jesse jackson not become huge taxi -- jesse jackson has become. i want to thank you because of their backgrounds. it has lifted all of us in the process. i was in the barber shop. pena how we kick it in the barber shop. some brothers were talking about it.

they were disrespecting him like that. i said do you know him? the brothers said no. i do not know jesse. i know he knows me. you understand he was sing i can relate to him becse he feels my pain. he feels me and my pain. though i do not know him myself, i know he knows me. momma taught me to say thank you. i wanto thank you for your background though it was broken. you have brought healing to this nation and healing to my life. to thank you. god has blessed you to articulate a powerful vision of what we ought to be in spite of what has incarcerated as.

a vision of what we ought to be. what a powerful vision. he is there to articulate at how he does is so brilliantly. before there is had pop there was jesse jackson. check the brilliance of it. he would use a teaspoon of terms to convey a town of truth. listen to him as he index steam into the veins of a people who have been broken by oppression and makes us repeat after him i am somebody. i may be poor but i am somebody. i may come from the slums, but the slums are not in me.

i am somebody. let us he would slip into that crime -- rhyme. he has the split -- poetics skills. he has an teative vision that this nation can find a live up to this. this is what he has dared to do. to that poetry that you had utilize can be more than what we were and seeing the on where we are. he has done its in a context of darkness. what else is a vision but a preview of coming attractions. you will catch that in a minute. we go to the movies a lot. it what gets us is we'd get

there in time for the priew. you do not see the previews until the theater goes dark. before you can see the preview, the previous says this is not the movie your are about to see. to the previous says if you hang around long enough, this is what coming. when it gets dark, of the dark let's let's see you know that the previous are coming. it is a vision of what is on the way. what has jesse jackson done for us in the darkness of oppression and white supremacy? jesse jackson has given us a preview of coming attractions and has said that we have to bring ourselves together. this nation will live up to its omise.

it is tough to say. a lot of people have missed out on the genius of him. god has blessed him to hang around so long. we honor people based on their lives taken cut. their youthful vitality is frozen in time. his wisdom and forms his brilliance. it informs his brilliance. as a consequence, we should thank god that we have them for as long as we do.

because of that, we are in a better place. jesse jackson hung around just long enough to inform them. you have a bill a gram if the go between the scripture and the sanctuary, he is informed by a

white wing impression. he will stand up. even though you have a liberation face, you will have an oppressive disparate. that will continue to feed the oppression that our community suffers from. thank you jesse jackson jesse jackson said in not take it out of context. you cannot read the text without understanding the oppressive context out of which they came. every single section of scripture except for briefly a time during the reign of king david occurred in a context of

oppression. how dare you stand up and individualize the gospel that does not address the social and political context. i will do with theolitical context. i am here to stay thank you to jesse jackson. momma taught me the bes thing to do when somebody does something for you is to say thank you. i hava good home training. thank you for overcoming your broken this. thank you f articulating a powerful vision of what we ought to be in spite of the and concentrated business of our situation.

i thank you for making sure you use what god bless you with to open the door to a brand new era of possibilities that all of us enjoy. it has been said that you do not have obama without 88 and jesse jackson. to the rules were changed in 1988 because of the brilliance of this man standing tall and standing firm. it opened up an air of new possibilities. it did not start with president obama. they have offices because jesse jackson open up an era to

possibility. i have to stop there. this is what iave come to say. we have heard about him as a humanitarian, a social activist. he is a preacher of the gospel. i like the gospel he preaches. he had to speak over and hawaii. he had flung from philadelphia over to honolulu. the long flight was jacking with his body. and he ends of going a dive. he goes into the dive about 3:30. in what some sisters to work at

that time. you will catch this later on. one of them walking in says tamara is my birthday. she said i'm just letting them know it is my birthday. they noticed it. when the accident -- t hey exited it, they ask do they come every night at that time? they said yes. th come in from their work hours. tomorrow we're want to throw a party for them. the people who were in their got excited about the possibility of throwing a party for the

sisters who were walking the street. some said i will hinder the cake. they were about to throw a party the next day. it was like clockwork. here they come in. those who were and shout it out happy birthday. they threw a birthday party for this sister you have never had a birthday party thrown for her. tears streamed down her face. someone said, what is wrong? sheet abandoned me. i never had a birthday party. i just found out when my actual birthday was a few years ago. i've never had a birthday party.

no one has ever done anything this nice for me. do you mind if i take this birthday cake? i've never had a birthday cake. at that moment, she ran out there. there was a deafening silence. the least they can get is a party. we have to sayrace period i am

the kind of preacher who was concerned enough to throw a birthday party at 3:00 in the morning. i'm trying to say thank you they have never about people who have been left behind to be forgotten. the have not forgotten about the role -- you have not forgotten about the war on poverty. they are saying do it, and jesse, i do it. our world is a better place because of what you have done. my mama taught me well. all i tried to do is articulate for all of you a thank you note.

>> you write about your mother writing that lovely think you know. it put a fire in me to go places

where never thought i would go. it is shaken by earthquakes. many women who did you train also came irallied around her. she wants to sing a song to you about revolution and promise. i give you my sister. i know you are brilliant and you will shine more. you will sing for reverend jackson. thank you. ♪ [singing]

♪ ♪ [singing in french]

>> it is about love.

you go into the hearts of the people. you never go out. thank you pirie . >> thank you so much. thank you for that great rendition. to give the rev. some love. that is just a preview in the light. imagine in the darkness what you will see from that. i told you he was a genius. he is a freak in theense of

freeish precocity that courses through his very speech. thqanank you. i want you to hear his sermon. do not take part of it. take the whole. -- he wasrying talking about a faith that can overcome circumstances and situations that seem both oppressive and improper. that kind of genius has delivered the meaning of rev. jesse jackson. i will bring him to this podium now, the man who we have been celebrating. i stood with him in the south of this country and in london when

mandela was released from prison. we were in a small room with nelson mandela and reverend jackson. i have stood by him as he has fought for the labor rights of white workers in san antonio texas. i have seen him preach around this country. he will not get up earlier than him. you will not go to bed later than him. when he lls y on the telephone, "this is your brother." he ain't got no small talk. he announces to eat is. he tells you he loves you and it is two hours a social engagement. when he is down, "alright. click." i have been met him in parties in los angeles.

we went to a christmas party. i wanted to get my party on. i wanted to dance a little bit. he talked to me for four hours in the party. i did not dri. i didn't eat no food. i couldn't dance. i had an education. i have been inspired by this man. in my mind, martin luther king, a frederick dglass, and jesse jackson. that is my order. that is my list. we have been benefited by his genius. we covered a few areas today. we cannot cover them all. what h did with sports alone in challenging this country to deal seriously with athletics broadly and african-american athletes in particular is monumental. what he did with the film industry in hollywood and the

legacies of inequality. he has resisted them ending gauge them. what he has done on wall street to make sure the flow of capital would be redirected toward poor communities. i bring him to the stage. i want to thank joseph and eric all of the people who are here. and nobody being paid. we did this out of the love of our heart. they were gracious enough to host us and then sponsor a lunch. now i bring to you the man whom wholove, who we admire, fo for so long has taught us to be better human beings and to make us understand that we are somebody. stand on your feet and received

the rev. jesse louis jackson. [applause] [laughter] >> thank you for my friend and brother for extending his class activity to have the celebration. i want to thank you so much for

our kinship across the years. allow me to know that he is in my debt. he met he threw me. he is doing all that without trying to pay me back. i want to thank all of you who participate in share today. you have shown us how and we thank you for your presence. i watched him grow and develop a voice. it is not yet appear what he will becomto all of us. it speaks for itself. he is rare among us.

we have great plans for him for the future. we need him. it is not recognized. he is not short. the whe is just deep. he looks like a giant. he really ain't. the platform is just type. we have among this these geniuses issue stand.

i was frightened. i said to some members that i see no worse things could happen if uses showed up one sunday. you can relax. i speak for myself today. he would make it past the ushers. of stinted do want to speak for myself.

and never stop trying to serve. i stopped trying to have continuity. i saw to remain current. we were disorganized. we have row organized patches. do you have no idea. in the end, and is not really matter to me where in the blossoms.

they keep telling it. he was there. we are talking about what was happening in katrina. i just come back from venezuela. really getting ready to have a meeting on the water.

the meeting was a good idea. people are drowning. there is a chance of a black man can be a governor of mississippi. tomorrow. a black personcan be governor mississippi tomorrow night.

it is good if you have relatives in it. [applause] it is not this moment that a black man can be the governor of mississippi. we can win mississippi governorship. we can become governor of mississippi on the grass. the difficulty is getting them out to vote.

they are being locked up. that is not difficult. that is inconvenience. here we are. it is worse than an inconvenience. in ohio, they change the rules. that is not difficult. he came sunday and monday.

you have to occupied the space in front of the voter registration office. l day andll there night. every state where they do not allow more than one weekend, they spend that going to jail. they tried to knock on the door. i say we've got to remain current. we've got to keep sowing seeds. i am anxious. i saw lsu and alabama played

the other night. sometimes the numerator changes but the denominator is the same. we have gone from cotton balls to football. it was illegal. it was illegal to make money picking cotton when you were in slavery. if you got caught selling cotton you could be whiplashed and punished. if you got caught selling cotton that you picked and planted you could be punished. now if you get caught selling your own jersey -- [applause] i mean, they make more money picking football then they made chopping sugar cane and picking cotton. somebody has to raise questions about the injusti of this. this is not what the n.c.a.a.

once was. the cotton pickers, those who pick the cotton and made the game possible are the only ones in eligible to sell their own jerseys. we have gone from picking cotton balls to basketballs. we can cose your o uniform color but not skin color. we can choose direction but not complexion. e reason people are so caught up and i am a tiger or i am a tightening, why do we do so well on the football field?

it is hard to be in first class. so we want to be a starter on the top team? we are the best. it is hard to do. it requires the best of our cognitive and motor skills. you have four allies and two referees. you hide the ball in some direction. that is real genius. what allows us to be the best at what is so hard to do? you can't inherit no points. [applause] second, the playing field is

even. rules are public. goals are clear. the referee is fair. he is not lobbying for the owner of the team. the school is transparent. whenever you play by rules, you inherit them. the plainfield is even. roles are public. goals are clear. the score is transparent. we can make it. that is really what we're trying to do, keep it simple. the rules are not public. the score is not transparent. we are free but not equal. that becomes my struggle to try to keep our struggle continuous

and keep sowing seeds. some seeds might take off and germinate. you have to wonder which seed is going to grow. do yr best. today we do have a structural crisis. this puts us and an awful dilemma of of having to deal with a nation's crisis. when you speak truth to power, power fight back. power kicksb back. there is an occupied movement it is good but not new. dr. king's last act was to

occupy the mall. occupied the mall with a simple agenda. the war on poverty, healing people. if you give more privileges to fewer and fewer, you're spiritually bankrupt. occupy wall street is just an extension of occupy the mall. they allow the banks with interest-free money, and then give students 8 trillion dollars debt and education becomes obstructed by bank policy, but many good minds cannot afford to attend -- attend school. they cannot afford to apply.

others cannot stay in. others graduate without a guaranteed job, so they would rather drop out of school. somebody has got to say sothing, it seems to meet. [applause] insurance fees are rising while the uninsured are rising. it seems like someone has got to say something. they are still getting tax subsidies. the books -- bush tax cut extensions to the richest 1% of americans. more money than all but state deficits combined. you cannot fight for justice pick your politics are creating and justice. somebody has got to say something because there is too much concentrated wealth, too

many unnecessary wars, and too much poverty in too many jobs lost for us to be at peace with ourselves. i am deeply concerned about libya as we militarize africa. libya went from a humanitarian mission to a full-scale war. we launched into libya and then we launched into the other crisis we are looking at in yemen and the crisis in syria. what makes that so different? one of my concerns is that libya is about two-thirds arab libyan and about one-third african libyan. libya is both a member of the arab league and the african union.

they dismissed the africans as mercenaries and say they do not have a place the. several thousand people are in jail, most of them are african leaders who came out of hardship from sudan and from niger and chad and egypt and nigeria. somebody has got to say something. this is one of those inconvenient truths that honor our preferred tradition of change. i want to thank all of you today for this day and i am anxious for us to continue our mission because it belongs to us. i want to pass on what i have seen. why would i ever have gone campaigning in new hampshire? why? i did go, and i did see that new hampshire is least as poor -- is

at least as poor as mississippi. i was told, don't go to iowa becae there are too many white people there. i found that pain is what pain is. when we spoke to pain, people did respond to us there. we did learn something on those trails, and we do hope that this president does well, but the silence is betrayal. great you are,w you cannot balance of basketball without air in it. the basketball has to have air in it, i think. you cannot dribble the ball. you cannot do no crossover and you cannot shoot the ball.

in the air leaves and the enthusiasm and hope please, you cannot win. you have to keep putting the hope in. you ha to keep putting the air and. how do we win? we win by putting the air back in the basketball, and those that put the air and in the first place have to keep it in. president obama inherited our journey through the wilderness. 40 years in the wilderness. we have to spend more time on the wilderness years. we did not go to sleep. some people prayed and some people rioted. we came out of the wilderness and figure how to turn our pain -- that had the big rally in

gary, indiana. there were victors in those days. we went from three black caucus members to 40. we got the vote in selma. that was just the beginning of the game. we could play, but the rules kept defeating us. it was not an -- blacks could not vote. white women could not sit on juries. the rules were stacked against are winning. we never stop fighting. when george was running in the 1984 campaign, they saw crowds we had never seen before. we were packing people in the auditorium and filling up gymnasium's as opposed to

filling up people's living rooms. two women what -- to white men walked up to me and one was holding his grandson. he said v., we heard you tonight. we agree with everything you are saying, but we are not quite there yet. 20 years later when barack ran, they were ready. somehow, some see that planet. when george and the black journalists told that -- somehow, some seeds got planted. there was almost a fist fight between black and white journalists. they just wrote down what they saw. my joy is private, but my interest is much broader than my joy. i serve my long time, maybe my best time, but we must pull some

of this together now. much of this is transmittable. we must communicate with the occupiers. the big issue is why are the biggest victims of economic violation absent from the protest? those who lost the most jobs ought to be occupying. those who have lost the most homes ought to be occupying. those who have faced the greatest amount of credit car debt ought to be occupying. dejesus occupied. this comes down to the question, do you oupied? do you occupy the quarantine

shelter of the leper? the faith of simon the lever is our moral challenge. we must see god. i thank you very much. [applause] >> we want to thank reverend jesse jackson for lack of commitment, a life of love, a life of service. thank all of our speakers. let's give some love again to the rev. jesse l. jackson. coach john thompson. [applause]

thank you also much for coming. thank georgetown for this opportunity. thank you all for coming. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> four days of "book tv" start this morning. this morning, the nobel peace prize. at 11:15, henry kissinger.

friday at 5:00 it team, caroline kennedy on her mother, jacqueline kennedy. also saturday at 10:00 and sunday at 9:00, the grandson of harry and bess truman opened his grandparents letters to each other. he is interviewed by margaret hoover, great granddaughter of president herbert hoover. >> the newly designed c-span website has 11 video choices, making it easier for you to watch today's event. it is also easier for you to get our schedule with new features so you can quickly scroll through all the programs featured on c-span networks and even received a c-span email scheduledschedu program is

to air. a handy channel finder. this is that all new c-span.org. >> yesterday, as part of an annual tradition, president obama pardoned a thanksgiving turkey named liberty. he is joined by his daughters. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] >> hello, everybody. it is wonderful to see all of

you here today. happy thanksgiving, and welcome to the white house. tomorrow is one of the best days of the year to be an american. it is a day to count our blessings, spend time with the ones we love, and did joye good food and great company, but it is also one of the worst days of the year to be a turkey. [laughter] they did not have it so good. and the rare exception are the two birds that joining me today. just liberty is here, but peace is back here somewhere. some of you know lately i've been taking a series of executive actions that do not require congressional approval. here is another one. we cannot wait to pardon these turkeys. [laughter] literally. otherwise they would end up next to the mashed potatoes and

stuffing. i want to think richard hyzenga and his wonderful family for debating this year's turkey from his farm in minnesota. the turkeys name is liberty. there he is. along with his understudy he has the distinction of being the luckiest bird on the face of the earth. right now he is also probably one of the most confused. [laughter] liberty was chosen from a flock of 30 other contestants for the honor of being here today, and for the first time in history these turkeys were raised by nearbyudent sbs by wilmar high school. i am told them in order to prepare them for today's big day, they were exposed to flashes in cameras.

they also receive the most important part of their training, which included learning how to gobble without really saying anything. [laughter] so liberty is ready for his turn in the spotlight. after he finishes are round of cable hits and a few shows, he will retire to a life of leisure at mount vernon, the same place were called washington spent his golden years. later today, we will also be taking two and named turkey's who were not so lucky to a local food bank that helps those in need. i want to thank the folks in pennsylvania for donating these birds for a third year in a row. one writer once called thanksgiving the one day that is ours.

one day that is purely american. when we gather around our table to are to share the fruits of our blessings, let's remember what that means. to be grateful for what we have, mindful of those that have west. let's think about those who cannot spend the holiday with their loved ones. especially the members of our military serving overseas. i would like to thank all of our men and women in uniform and their families for their incredible service and devotion. that is what being an american is all about. even when times are tough, we look out for each other. we with each other up, and we remind ourselves just how lucky we are here together in the greatest country on earth. so from our family to yours, i want to wish everyone of wonderful and happy and healthy thanksgiving, and now since liberty and peace have been so

patient, it is my privilege to grant them the official pardon. i have to give them a little symbol. here we go. [laughter] you are hereby pardoned. give them a round of applause. [applause] think you. thank you everybody.

happy thanksgiving. [applause] >> here is a look at c-span is thanksgiving day programming. tonight at 8:00 eastern, a discussion about ronald reagan's legacy. the motion picture association of america posted a flann panelt included chris dodd, and andrea mitchell. that is followed by anita hill. "xt on c-span, it is today's washington journal" live with your phone calls. then, a congressional gold medal ceremony for michael collins and was altered. -- and buzz alter. and 45