sometimes go down this rabbit hole myself with people who email me or friends of mine, is that you almost never have enough facts at your own disposal to settle the argument, right? i mean, all of us, how many things do we really know so in-depth that we have instant recall of the statistics? even if we did, wood person we're talking to really believe us? that's the aspect of it i find so frustrating. i always feel like if i could have the perfect fact sheet in front of me, i could show the other person, you know, the error of their ways, and yet that's not how the human brain works. recognizing that neither of you are right. the idea is that your natural state is delusion. if you approach an argument or experimentation of an idea that way, you are susceptible to do

information. you are arguing in a way that you can convince the other person because you are not taking them to believe something they are not willing to believe until your behavior makes it impossible to get facts across. they have their guard up against you because of the way conversation takes place. >> one last question about the poisonous atmosphere in d.c. always been hostile? if you go back to the history of the republicans, at times, the supreme court was highly reactionary. decades of being non-functional and blocking civil rights legislation. why should we expect washington to be any different than it is?

>> that was my one unspoken series -- on spoken -- unspoken. that i did not mention. the media is more knowledgeable than it used to be. the answer to this is in the framing of the question. the senators were beating themselves and beating each other. there is one example of that. it is in the moments just before the civil war, which i think is similar to where we are now. that is the only time when i think the country has been as rare event -- riven and it has felt that it was about to boil in the same way. before the civil war, there were these conflicting views about

the civil war that could not be -- about the world that could not be recognized -- could not be reconciled. >> you could find all kinds of examples before the civil war of where congress had corruption and bribery was basically legal. if you look at the civil rights debates, that had a geographical component to it, too. republicans and democrats sid ing with each other. there are no more southern democrats and no more northeastern -- no more northeastern republicans. it is ideology only. >> all right. thank you all so much.

this was really fun. we will be back. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> here are some of the crowd gathering for the annual memorial day rally. c-span is on the memorial bridge that spans virginia and washington, d.c. the group was founded by vietnam veterans. that bringsgroup's awareness two soldiers injured in action. they are making their way from arlington cemetery to the vietnam veterans memorial in washington.

looking at some of the spectators gathered to watch the motorcycles of the rolling thunder ride by. we are going to be getting another look at the spectators in about an hour and have more live memorial day coverage tomorrow morning when president obama this is the tomb of the unknown soldier in arlington and then to the vietnam memorial

where leon panetta and actor tom selleck will be leading an observance. coming up, commencement addresses from colleges in north carolina and pennsylvania. first michelle obama and cia director david petraeus. the first lady gave commencement speeches at three colleges this month. one of them was at north carolina agricultural university in greensboro. her speech is about 25 minutes. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. rest yourselves. let me thank chancellor martin for that kind introduction. i also want to thank everyone from the board of governors, the

board of trustees and the faculty and all of the staff who have worked so hard on this event and making you the men and women that you are. i also have to thank the university choir. you all are amazing. as the chancellor said, you are becoming regulars at the white house. that is a good thing, singing at our black history month events for the last few years. it is amazing to hear those voices pouring in the white house. it is a pleasure to hear your beautiful music here today. of course, i want to join in on banking be folks who made this day possible -- thanking the folks who made this day possible, the people who have been with you every step of the way. your parents.

these folks have given you that shoulder to lean on our that hug or that kick in th ebutt -- in the butt when you need to do better. none of you would be here without their support. let's give them eighth round of support -- applause because it is -- a round of applause because it is their day, too. i also want to thank this group in front of me, the graduates of the north carolina agricultural state university class of 2012. [applause] congratulations. you all have worked so hard. i know you have grown so much. you have come to truly come to represent something called aggie

pride. all right. i like that. let me tell you, it is an honor to be here at north carolina a & c. for years, you have produced more african american engineers, and more african american female engineers than just about anywhere else in america. you have produced some of our nation's finest leaders in business, government, and our military. the first african american justice on the north carolina supreme court was an aggie, so was the second african american astronauts. [applause] and so were those four young men

who sat down at a lunch counter 52 years ago and will stand forever in bronze. i know that all of you know the story of the greensboro four and how they changed the course of our history. but since we have the nation watching, let's talk a little bit. [applause] it is easy to forget that before they were known as heroes, they were young people just like all of you. they were freshmen here at anc. three of them grew up here in north carolina. they all lived on the same floor in scott hall.

they were not trailblazers back then. we have to ask ourselves, how did these young men get where they were -- get from where they were into the history books? one of the dam of them had spent christmas in new york. -- of them had spent christmas in new york. he could eat wherever he chose. we got out at the station in greensboro, the food counter here would not serve him. this was not exactly new. joseph had lived with these boundaries for years. but this time, it hit him. even though he had been just the same person in greensboro that he was in philly, he felt like a fraction of the man he had

become. in the state where he was born and raised, in the city where he was working to get an education to grow into a peace possible, self respecting man, he was treated as if he did not matter, as if he was not welcome in the place he called home. imagine the humiliation he must have felt. imagine his pain and outrage. when joseph got back to his dorm that night, his mind was probably already raging. he sat down with his friends and they decided to do more than just talk. they decided to act. on a monday afternoon, the back of them headed downtown and i am sure their hearts were racing. i am sure they barely slept the night before. everything was on the line for

these young men. they were considered the lucky ones. they were some of the few african-american men who had the chance to attend college. they were on the path to achieve something most black folks could only dream of. they were risking all of that for what they believe in. this was something that a lot of people -- black folks back then -- did not do because the stakes were so high. remember, this was 1960. if you used the wrong water fountain or sat on the wrong seat on the bus or step your foot in the wrong part of the theater, you might get heckled horseback -- or statistics -- spat on or beaten.

one of them wondered if he would arrive back to campus in a pine box. but there was no turning back. they sat down on those four stools at the lunch counter and ordered coffee. they were refused, but they did not get up. that first day, they were there for an hour or so. they went back to campus and told people what they did. most people did not believe them. the next day, more people showed up. the demonstrations spread from greensboro to national and jackson and more than 50 other cities across the country. by the end of july, woolworth was forced to end their policy of discrimination. the civil-rights movement was

growing stronger every day. all of this started because of a bus ride and some dorm room conversations. it started because a small group of young people had their eyes open to the injustice around them. it started because they decided that it was time for someone to wake up and change the situation. that, more than anything else, is the story of our nation's progress right from the very beginning. it is the story of the farmers, and cobblers and the abolitionists who ran the underground railroad, the workers who organized the individuals of every background, color, creed, orientation who worked in ways, large and small,

to give us the country we have today. every single one of them decided that at some point, it was time to wake up and change the situation. that is what i want to talk with you about today. about how all of the work and the sweat and the passion that so many people poured into this country must be met with work and sweat and passion of our own. as young people like those who always spoke -- stoked the fires of progress, our country is counting on you to step forward and help us with the work that remains. we need you. i would be first to it meant that it is easy to lose sight of

that responsibility, especially when you first graduate college. you are struggling to pay off your student loans. you are putting in extra hours at work. you are trying to figure out how -- who you want to spend the rest of your life with. i remember that like it was yesterday. i worked hard all through school and i earned my b.a. i got a great job at one of the biggest firms at the -- firms in chicago. i checked all of the boxes. nice paycheck. got it. nice car. got it. when i was 26 years old, one of my best friends died from cancer.

my father died after battling multiple sclerosis foryears -- for years. i had lost two of the people i loved most in the world. i began to do some soul- searching. i began to ask myself some hard questions. if i died tomorrow, what did i really do with my life? what kind of mark would i leave? how would i be remembered? none of my answers satisfied me. i had everything i was told i should want. it still wasn't enough. i realize no matter how long i stayed on that job and pursued someone else's definition of success, i would never have a life that felt like my own.

i quit that high-paying job and took a job in the mayor's office. tht hurt -- that hurt. i became the executive director of a non-profit organization to train young people to pursue careers in public service. i was making a fraction of my law firm salary and i added years to my student loan repayment process. i woke up in the morning feeling engaged and inspired in ways i had never felt before. i felt i was doing something that truly make a difference in people's's lives. 20 years later looking back on that journey, i realized all of that started those questions i asked myself in that law office. as you are looking ahead to your

own journeys, i would like to pose those questions to you. the first question i asked myself was, who do i want to be? not what to do i want to be, but who? it is easy to think about your future as a series of lines on a resume. that is how our society is wired. when you meet somebody, they always ask you the first question. what do you do? and you said, i am a nurse, i am a teacher. whatever it is. there is nothing wrong with that. the cornerstone of what can be a happy life. your job responsibilities are those things to do. they are not who you are.

as you all are thinking about your careers, i want you to think about what is important to you. how does your job fit into a complete life? are you going to be an engineer, or are you going to be an engineer that volunteers in a science class at a local school twice a week? are you going to go into business, or are you going to be the ceo that sponsors theatre productions and the local little league team? are you going to be the nurse that service in the national guard every other weekend? are you going to be the award winning journalist who raises the wonderful family who drives the car pool and who has voted in every election, every single year? it is critical that you start

thinking about these things now. i am going to warn you. those daily to do lists that will creep up on you, those things that keep climbing and acquiring, those add up. it forms a powerful currant. if you are not focused on who you want to be and how you want to live your life, it will sweep you away. you have got to keep your bearings. you have to figure out what matters to you and stay true to those values. you have to keep your eyes open as you make your way in the world. that leads me to my second question. i want you to ask ourselves, what is going on in the world around me?

-- ask yourselves, what is going on in the world around me. the world is different from the days of the greensboro four. you may not hear the words of hatred and discrimination every day. those are signs of how much progress we have made. but we all know there is still plenty of serious injustice crying out for our attention. we know this. yes, we outlawed segregation in our public schools nearly 60 years ago. we all know every child is not getting beat same quality of education every day. -- the same quality of education every day. women work -- when -- women

have the right to vote, but they just make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. we have outlawed hate crimes, but it's still exist. -- it still exists. take a look around and i guarantee you, you will see that there is plenty of work to be done. maybe it is the school on the other side of town with crumbling classrooms and the teachers who are as outnumbered as they are overworked. maybe it is the cash strapped homeless shelter that keeps people warm, but their grant money ran out. maybe it is a river lined with trash. everywhere we look, there are wrongs just waiting to be made right.

those wrongs will not go away. they will introduce themselves deeper and deeper unless we act. that leads me to the third and final question. we need you to ask yourself, how can i help? it is a simple question. how can i help? the answers are often obvious. that failing school, volunteer their before work. donate your old laptop. the homeless shelter in danger of shutting its doors, start a fund raising drive. those nationwide in the qualities, that stagnant city hall, immersed yourself in information. become familiar with your elected representatives.

vote, not just once in a while, but every year in every election. even better, run for a seat at the table yourself. we simply cannot move forward unless all of us are engaged. be engaged means not simply recognizing what is wrong, not simply complaining about our talking about our problems, but acting. it means waking up and changing the situation. that is a lesson that so many of you have already began to learn during your time here at anc. you have volunteered 35,000 hours of service. you have mentored your peers and marched and walked four causes you believe in. you have cleaned up streets. you have served at the