we are all in titled to, and protected by this country that we call home. at times, it is necessary that we let those who represent us on capitol hill, those who represent us in our communities, knowing that we are a force to be reckoned with. many of our messages today target today's youth and our elders. i look specifically at those new parents, our young professionals, youthful educators, and community activists. they are young enough to relate, but also established in our community, and i ask you, how will we bridge that gap? what are our next steps? because this country, in the area of civil rights, has

certainly taken a turn backwards. am i depressed? no. i am energized to move forward and to be sure to see the gains that we have encountered and had to come to us, that we have had to work so hard for, are not lost. so i do ask you, one of our next steps, we created a framework, but there is so much work to be done. many of our civil rights leaders, including my husband and dr. martin luther king, were still of an age when they took the lead.

with that question and mind, i challenge you to get back to community building. it is your problem, it is our problem, it is our neighborhood. these are our children, you are the parents. but in that same breath, and victory will be a collective one. it is with a clear conscience, knowing what we have done and can do, that we will reach that mountaintop, and we will overcome. but it will take each and every one of us, in unity, in unison, letting those who say that they managed this country of america know that it is the people. it is the voice and the actions of the people that say, we must

overcome, and eventually say, we have overcome, because of the involvement of each and everyone. that is our challenge today. let us move for and do what we must do, remembering freedom is not free. we must work for it. [applause] >> peaceful coexistence was a hallmark of dr. king's teachings. he said we must learn to get to live as brothers or perish as fools. welcome the rev. christian stone, and the president of asian american advancing justice. >> greetings from the fellowship of reconciliation, working since 1915 to secure a world of

justice and freedom from through nonviolence. today, 50 years after the march on washington, i pay tribute to the visionary organizer of the original march by rustin. as a fellowship of reconciliation staff, rustin co- founded and organized the first freedom ride in 1947. an african-american gay man, rustin was a quaker. his life commitment to nonviolence as a spiritual discipline exemplifies that pacifism is anything but passive. he pursuit -- refused to accept more by denying society's

expectations that he be straight. he refused to be at war with another nation by being in prison as a conscientious objector during world war ii, and he refused to be at war with humanity by not accepting diminishment or division based on race. in every situation, rustin rejected violence, conflicts, and strife, and instead showed peace. he and rev. james lawson, another staffer, are credited with convincing rev. dr. king early on that nonviolence had to be the path to freedom. and so, on this day, how can we pay tribute to this legacy of nonviolence and peace, to dr. king's refusal to see another as enemy, as we are poised to attack syria? rustin and king showed us, over and over, racism, militarism, and economic exploitation are inextricably linked. so on behalf of all people of conscience, i call on our leaders to do all in our power to resist the siren song of militarism, and increase the way of rustin, cain, the way of nonviolence and peace. thank you. [applause] >> i was born in a thatched roof

hut in the jungles of laos where ere s no running water or electricity. my father was a medic working with u.s. aid during the secret war in laos. when the wars ended in southeast asia, we were forced to flee our homes and became political refugees. thanks to president carter and vice president mondale, my family was resettled in the united states. only in the america of dr. king's dream is it possible for someone like me to stand before you today. i think dr. king would be proud.

in fact, so very proud, dr. bernice king, then you have invited me and the communities that i represent, the asian and pacific islander community, to take part in this commemoratives celebration. so i believe that while dr. king's conversation with america speaks to and still rings true today, about the creative sufferings of black america, his dream is inclusive of all america, and his call to action in lights each america, asia and america, black america, hispanic americans, native america, lgbt america, to take inspiration from our own circumstances, and to know that the price of freedom is the commitment to ensuring the security of liberty and justice for all.

>> please welcome governor martin o'malley. >> the work of justice is urgent. it is a real, and it is needed. let there be no comfort in our country for the bigotry of cold indifference, for there are still too many lives in america taken from us by violence. still too many children in america who go to bed hungry, who go to school hungry. still too much apathy when the lives of people of color are too often down the less than the lives of white people. and so, the responsibility we consecrate today is not rooted in a staunch or memory, it is rooted in something start -- far deeper. it is rooted in the calling of conscience to action. actions to protect every individual's right to vote. action that safeguards and keeps

guns out of hands of violent offenders. action that makes quality education and the opportunity of college a reality for more families. action that protect the dignity of every child's home with civil marriage equality. action that strengthens our country with the hopes and dreams and hard work of our newest generation of new american immigrants. action that abolishes the death penalty and improve public safety in every neighborhood, regardless of income or color.

action that creates jobs and raises the minimum wage for every mom and dad who is willing to work hard and play by the rules. yes, thanks to dr. king, america's best days are still ahead of us. love remains the strongest power in our country. forward we shall walk, hand in hand. and in this great work, we are not afraid. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, grammy- nominated and five-time award winning female vocalist of the year, natalie grant. ♪ >> i love the lord he heard my cry

every groan as long as i live in trouble i will hang to you i am going to run to his throne i love lord i really do love the lord he heard my cry he heard every groan as long as i live and troubles run high am going to run to his i love the lord i really do love the lord

as long as i live i will hang ♪ his throneun to hate to choose i'm gonna run to his throne

when life gets me down i'm gonna get myself to you when trouble comes my way i'm going to get myself to jesus if life gets you down precious is jesus he is the way, the truth, the light ain't nobody like jesus i love the lord himi will hasten to ♪ [applause]

>> please welcome the chair of the american association of people with disabilities, fred moss. >> i am humbled to be here with all of you today. i am a proud american with a disability. i want to first thank the president for 503, which will give thousands of jobs to people with disabilities. 33 years ago, just a few days before starting college, i'd go from a boat and hit a sand bar and a foot of water. i broke my neck and was paralyzed from the chest down. in that instant, my life and the lives of my family changed forever. i spent seven months in hospital undergoing intensive physical therapy, learning how to be

independent. when i left the hospital to begin my new life, college remained out of reach. the campus was not accessible. i thought the doors to fulfilling life had slammed shut. it was 10 years before the americans with disabilities act. i was unable to access most public buildings. i was banned from most public swimming pools. i was told there are no jobs for people like me. i could not even get on a bus. it was rare to see a person like me in the community. we referred to as shut-ins. fortunately, a university in delaware was welcoming, i adapted to make it more accessible, and i was the first chair user to attend and graduate. my first job was in a two-story building, and yes, my office was on the second floor. every day i was carried, chair and all, up the stairs, to get to work. in the years since my accident, i have dedicated my life to expanding equal opportunity for all americans. today i do this as chair of the american association of people with disabilities, the nation's largest off disability rights

organization. i also do this in my role as vice president of the comcast foundation. today, we need your help to pass the disability treaty, the treaty to expand the spirit of the americans with disabilities act across the globe, level the playing field for u.s. businesses working abroad, and increased access for u.s. citizens traveling overseas. we will never know how many, i can say with certainty, there were people who wanted to join the march on washington 50 years

ago but could not because participating was either too difficult or simply impossible for people like me. there was just no access. looking back, it is fair to say martin luther king jr. was the father of our movement as well. dr. king had a dream about equality and dignity for all people. for millions of people with disabilities, this dream remained out of reach. eight in 10 do not have jobs. most will never know what it means to work, even if we are willing and qualified. it remains legal to pay people with disabilities far less than the minimum wage. today, i share dr. king's dream. i dream of a world that does not hold anyone back.

people with disabilities represent all people in all situations. we represent nearly 20% of the u.s. population. i call on everyone here today to continue to stand up for and defend the rights of people with disabilities. our duty as citizens is to help one another achieve those dreams. please go to aapd.com/march to see what we can do to get and when we dream together. thank you very much. >> in 1963, dr. king called on america to make good on its promise of opportunity and freedom and justice for all. 50 years later, the struggle for jobs, justice, and freedom continues. please welcome the naacp board chair roslyn brock, and president and ceo of the naacp ben jealous. >> good morning. a march on washington for jobs and freedom 50 years ago was a

march for equality and opportunity. while we commemorate the march today with a drum major shared his dream, we at the naacp did acknowledge that our organizing days are not over, they are beginning anew. the naacpers did not come to washington 50 years ago to simply march, hold up signs, and go home. the power and depth of their witness is magnified by the fact that they return home and organized, believing that we are one nation, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all. in a 1966 speech to the committee for human rights, dr. king said, "of all the forms of inequality, in justice in health care is the most shocking and

inhumane." freedom for all americans to access form -- affordable, quality health care is one of the most pressing civil rights issues for this generation. the supreme court has issued its decision. the people have spoken. the affordable care act is a lot of the land. [applause] our communities have the opportunity starting october 1, to enroll in a new health care insurance marketplace. we must ensure, my friends, that all americans are aware that we can now change the face of health in this nation. opponents of fairness resist our noble cause. however, we are determined in our hearts and declare to the world, that when it comes to health equity and access, courage will not skip this generation. thank you. [applause] >> fired up!

fired up! fired up! ladies and gentlemen, as we stand here, 50 years after the march on washington, let us remember that dr. king's last march was never finished. the poor people's campaign was never finished. some 50 years after the march on washington, while fewer people as a percentage in our country are poor, more as a number in our country are poor. while the ladder of opportunity extends to the heavens for our

people today, more are tethered at the bottom and fallen off every day. indeed, one could say that the distance between a child's aspiration represented by the top of that letter, and a family's situation at the bottom of the latter, it is the exact measurement of that parents level of frustration. so as we go home today, let us remember the dreamer was also a doer. and as we turn on our tvs tomorrow and we see people walking out of places where they are being forced to survive on $7.25, by the thousands, let us join them in their fight to lift up the bottom. at the top of that ladder, it has extended, but the tenders at the bottom must be unleashed. let us not just be dreamers that say. let us commit to being doers.

thank you, and god bless. >> from destiny church, new zealand, please welcome a performance by a traditional maori team.

maori]ng

[speaking maori]

[applause] >> civil-rights leader, reverend joseph lowery. [applause]

>> thank you very much. fired up! i cannot hear you. fired up? now i can hear you, thank you. i am thankful for a day for a nation that, after 50 years, is committed to being a nation of liberty and justice for all, and that we hold in the deepest reverence, the principles of freedom and justice for all. i am thankful today that we have a president who understands what

martin luther king meant when he said, we must rise up from the basement of race and color to the higher ground of content of character. i am glad we have a president who joined with martin luther king in calling upon this nation to rise up and leave the basement of race and color, and come to the higher ground of content of character. we join in prayer for a nation that, strangely enough, continues to seek to deny rights, and restrict freedom in the right to vote. we come today, 50 years later,

it is even stranger that there are men and forces that still seek to restrict our boat and deny our full participation. well, we come here to washington to say, we ain't going back. we ain't goin back. we have come too far, marched too long, prayed too hard. whipped too bitterly. bled too profusely. and died too young. to let anyone turn back the clock on our journey of justice. [applause] thank you for the privilege of

sharing these moments with you. i see a man walking out on the stage signaling my time is up. god bless you, and god keep you. hang in there. fired up? fired up? ready to go. [applause] >> dr. king's dream was for a brighter future, a future where everyone was free to prosper and live in harmony. joining us now are two champions of a better life for all. the chair person of the captain planet foundation, laura turner and the executive director of the gay and lesbian and street education director. >> as we stand here today, united on this historic anniversary, i am reflecting on

the courage that thousands of people showed by putting their lives, and the lives of their families in harm's way as they fought for civil and human rights. i am thankful to my friend reverend dr. bernice king, and the king family, for inviting me here. i am thankful for them, continuing on that path, that rocky path, to freedom and justice for all in the united states and around the world. i am not only here to commemorate this auspicious occasion, but to speak about another form of injustice.

we are degrading. the lives of our children and health of our planet. no one knows this better than my congressman and hero rev. john he is not only a fierce civil rights activist, but he is also a staunch environmental champion. he has said the environmental

movement is an extension of civil and human rights. and that is because the least of these, and our children everywhere, are the most impacted -- adversely impacted, disproportionately impacted. there is no justice in a world where powerful people and corporations can affect the lives of every man, woman, and child. one of the themes today is the freedom to prosper. but our children cannot prosper if we continue to destroy the natural systems that support all of our lives. our children cannot prosper when they are second from exposure to a toxic cocktail of chemicals that are unregulated and untested in the air they breathe, the water they drink, the food they eat, and the products they use. and our children, and their children, cannot prosper when they face a future of record temperatures, rising seas, and extreme weather. unless we work together, we will be handing our children problems that they cannot solve. and time is running out. we have a moral mandate to protect and to preserve our children's health, quality of life, and their future, and we have a moral mandate to be good stewards of all the blessings god has given to us. millions of people around the world will be ringing their

bells, and i say, let's bring our bell for clean water, clean air, healthy children, environmental justice, and freedom. >> 50 years ago, bayard ruxton stood on the stage leading the crown, reciting the march on washington, a movement spoke through him, but the world would not embrace him because he was gay. today, lgbt voices are welcomed to this stage, and president obama has awarded bayard rustin the presidential medal of freedom. but we have not yet seen dr.

king's opportunity thrown open to everyone. we have so far to go before a truly great education is offered to every child. listen to our community and partners in the fight. we fight for millions of lgbt students and all those seen as different. they deserve a welcoming audience for their dream, and they deserve to be embraced for who they are, yet, every day, our youth in doors the silence imposed by violence and fear. some have been silenced forever, and we raise our voices in their memory. zakiya gund, gwen aroyyo, carl joseph walker hoover, lawrence kane. bayard rustin was a quaker. he attended meetings each week listening to the voice of the

divine that could speak to anyone of us. across this nation, of voices are ready to rise for opportunity and justice and freedom for every young person, no matter who they are, what did look like, or who they love. listen for those forces. lift them up so that they can be heard. when we do that, we shall all rise. thank you for the great honor of standing with you today. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, five- time nba most a valuable player, bill russell. [applause]

>> good afternoon. it is nice to be here. i was sitting in the first row, 50 years ago, and it is nice to be anywhere 50 years later. [laughter] 50 years ago, the night before the march, i met dr. king, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. he invited me to be up here, and i respectfully declined because the organizers had worked for years to get this together, and i have not done anything. so i wanted to continue my life as an interested bystander. lately, i have heard a lot about

how far we have come in 50 years. but from my point of view, you only register progress by how far you have to go. i did not have anything to say anyway. [laughter] i am here to join you and to implore you. the fight has just begun. we can never accept the status quo, until the word progress is taken out of our vocabulary.

and so, i thank yofog here, and to encourage you, young and old, men and women, to understand that progress can only be measured by how far we have to go. so i want to thank you for letting me speak to you, and to encourage you, as we used to say in the projects, keep on keeping on. thank you. [applause] >> dr. martin luther king believed in the power of

organized labor to help fight poverty. the labor movement, dr. king said movement"was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress." please welcome two die-hard champions of american workers. the president of the a. philip randolph institute, and leigh saunders, the president of the afl-cio. [applause] >> in 1963, a philip randolph's opening remarks were, we hear today are only the first wave. when we leave, it will be to carry on the civil-rights revolution back home, and to every nook and cranny of this land. hello, freedom family.

i am clayola brown, president of the a. philippe randolph institute. here we are 50 years later, a second wave, standing ready to carry on the revolution, ready to fight for jobs and freedom. standing ready to advance the struggles of a shared prosperity and equality for all of god's children. this is our charge. dr. kane said human progress is neither a automatic, nor inevitable. every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle. and i know you have heard it before but i will say it again, because it comes from our founder, a. philip randolph,

that at the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. you get when you take and you keep what you hold. if you cannot take anything, you will not get anything. if you cannot hold anything, you will not keep anything. and you cannot take anything without organization. we must organize. we must organize. we must organize. >> good afternoon. i am so proud to represent the 1.6 million members of the american federation of state, county, and municipal employees, all the service workers whose labor touches communities throughout this nation. i stood with dr. king in 1963 when he called on america to be true to its principles. five years later, dr. king stood with me when the sanitation workers of local 1733 demanded justice, dignity, and respect.

the attorney for civil-rights workers rights, and economic rights began almost the moment america was born. it gained new momentum on these steps 50 years ago. and it advances whenever the disenfranchised and disillusioned stand up, fight back, and march forward. because our struggle continues, we come to this memorial not only to commemorate the past, but to shape the future. we have the power to carry the determination, and the hope and passion of the march on washington forward. we must also have had the courage. we must also have the courage. in the name of dr. king, a. philip randolph, bayard rustin, congressman john lewis, dorothy height, on behalf of those whose names will never be known, we must recommit to the struggle as stewards of a nation that

belongs to the rich and poor, to the ceo and a sanitation worker, and those with and those without. we have the responsibility to build on a legacy that has been left to us all. we must protect the most fundamental rights we have, the right to vote. we must ensure corporate forces will never be silent. we must fight for good jobs and decent pay. and we must become a just and fair society of our ideals. above all, we must uphold the principle that everyone who contributes to the prosperity of this nation should share in the prosperity of our nation. thank you. [applause]

>> please welcome the u.s. representative from maryland's fourth district, the honorable donna edwards. >> i represent maryland's fourth congressional district. as the first african-american woman to represent maryland in the house of representatives, on behalf of my sisters in congress, i am stan too proud -- proud to stand here today with other courageous women. i am proud to stand on the shoulders of our domestic workers and to be wrapped in the arms of free four little girls in a birmingham church and the chicago teenager on vacation in

mississippi. it is a new day 50 years later and a better day, but the day is not over. today struggle for civil rights, social justice, and economic opportunity to man our engagement and our voice. to realize fully our dream we must raise our voices and take action. we must lift our voices to challenge government and our community and neighbors to be better. we must lift our voices for wages that enable families to take care of themselves, for a health care system that erases disparities, for communities and homes without violence, for clean air and water to protect our environment for future generations, and for a just justice system. we must lift our voice for the value of our boat and have our votes counted without interference. as we stand here today, dr. king would know, and john lewis certainly knows, that today is not just a commemoration or celebration. it is a call to action for the work remains undone in the communities that remain

unchanged. our foremothers and forefathers 50 years ago closed the books on the last century. well, when the book closes on the 21st century and civil- rights, which chapter will you have written? what fight will you have fought in the halls of congress or on the town halls of your community? for men and women, black and white, latino, asian, muslim, christian, jew, gay, straight, i hope this includes you. the final chapter must include your voice to ensure dr. king's dream. they cannot be written without you. >> 50 years ago, a rabbi said -- stood on the steps with dr. king and began his remarks by saying, i speak to you as an american jew. i speak to you today as an american jew. i represent the jewish civil rights group bend the arc, and

the organization that collectively make of the jewish social justice roundtable. the vision dr. king offered us 50 years ago was not only a dream. it was a call for equality, but it was also a demand for justice. we may be closer to legal equality, but we are far, far, far from justice. we are far from justice when young black men can be stopped, frisked, and disrespected on the streets of new york city. we are far from justice when students carry the burden of loans. we are far from justice when 11 million immigrants work every single day without her texans and a pathway to citizenship. and we are far from justice when a gay, lesbian, or transgender person can be fired for their job simply because of who they are. we are far from justice when we accept the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor keep having poor and when we go

to bed each night, allowing anti-american child to go to bed hungry. yes, the moral arc of the universe is long and it does, in fact, bend towards justice but it does not bend on its own. it tends because of people like baird rustin and andrew goodman, and james chaney, and mickey schwerner. it bends because of you and me. we make the arc bend and for many of us, it's not bending fast enough. every year we recall how moses led his people out of slavery and to the promised land but the

desert came first. jews believe the only way to the promised land is through the desert. there is no way to get from here to there without marching and organizing together. as i look out on the small with people so diverse and passions and so bonded together by shared values, i have hope today that we will, in fact, know that the edge of our desert is near and that the promised land is in sight. >> how is everybody doing out there? we will not let the rain stop us. in communities across this nation, there are people who are suffering and in need and dr. king once said "life's most persistent question and urgent question is what are you doing for others?" joining us now are two advocates of civil engagement -- these welcome the chair of the national council of negro women, ingrid saunders jones and a great brother who happens to be the general president of the greatest fraternity in the world, the fraternity that has

members such as jesse owens, thurgood marshall, dr. martin luther king jr., and hill harper. mark tillman, president of alpha phi alpha, inc. >> good afternoon. the national council of negro women led by dorothy irene height was very much involved in the historic march on washington. it is an honor for me to be here to represent the thousands of ncnw members and all of the other women who participated in that march. dr. hite worked closely with the leaders of the big six.

that was the day that dr. king told us of his dream for his children and for all of our children. what we can be sure of is that dr. king was focused on the nation's foundation, our quest to form a more perfect union. at our birth, america was a nation of people actively involved in creating a place of freedom and democracy. the principles expressed in the preamble, those simple but powerful words are the same principles which undergird the question for civil, human, and gender rights. america is distinguished by its

commitment to democracy, democracy whose core ingredients include justice, peace, well- being, equality. our quest for a perfect model of democracy that more perfect union, continues. our personal civic responsibility and engagement will determine how well our democracy will work so we come together today just as was done 50 years go, to remind us of the need to be fully aware of and actively engaged in our communities and their government at every level. remember the children of the 60s movement led us to today and are our leaders today. i am sure that we have seen and will hear from the children who will be the leaders of tomorrow. thank you. >> good afternoon. i am honored, humbled, and quite

frankly awestruck to be standing on sacred soil where 50 years ago, people came on buses, by cars, and some even walked to be a part of this historic event with a unity unseen before in the fight for civil rights. on this day, we are progressing with a mandate that was a eloquently set for america. we are wrapped in the legacy of great individuals that recognize we cannot afford generations becoming ill prepared to rise above individual concerns, ill prepared to live with understanding and goodwill, and that the meaning of stand your ground does not get you buried under the ground. and we are here to honor a man

that anchored this movement, who dared to dream the rights of all men and women are equal, who defied him told practices that would discriminate terry and that -- that were discriminatory and inhumane and mobilize the nation that actions would eventually ring a better life. dr. martin luther king jr. was a proud member of alpha phi alpha incorporated and we are proud to have led the initiative to old the memorial in his honor. on this historic occasion, we honor my fraternity brother who stands in the nations capital on hallowed ground with presidents of this country, forever remaining watchful and guarding the halls of democracy.

commemorating the march on washington for jobs and freedom underscores our collective strength, influence, and unity. america may have progressed with the elections of a black president and may soon follow with the election of a female president but we must not be distracted by the burning realization that our journey is still challenging and that race and class still have a great distance to go. let's continue to march for their freedom. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, dolores guerta. >> we are being blessed with the rain, yes we are. we are here to celebrate all of the wonderful benefits with all receive from the civil rights movement and chicano movement. we honor the sacrifices and the lives of those that gave their lives so we can have these benefits.

we want to honor caretta scott king for all of the work she did to get that martin luther king holiday, the national holiday -- we want to honor yolanda king for all that she did on behalf of women and children to stop abuses of both. dr. king said on this very stage :" go back to your communities, go back to the south, go back to the north because we've got to continue to organize and fulfill that dream." if we don't do it, it's not going to happen. the only way that discrimination is going to end against people of color, against women, against our lg bt community is if we do it which means we've got to outreach to those who are not with us. we've got to educate them. we got to mobilize them.

we got to motivate them. that is the only way it can happen. i am going to ask all of you -- who has the power? let's say it loud and clear -- i'm going to say what kind of power? just say people power. what kind of power? all right, we can do it, yes we se puede. let's also it is altogether -- yes we can. put your hands up everybody like this. we will all clap together and in spanish we will say si, se puerde which means we can. and - >> please welcome leann rimes. ♪ amazing grace.

how sweet the sound that saves a wretch like me. ♪ i was oh, once was lost but now am found i was blind but now i see ♪ when we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun

we've no less days to sing god's praise han when we first begun ♪ amazing grace oh, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now i'm found

i was blind but now i see ♪ -- e more time for liane leann rimes. you know, we've made considerable progress in the last 50 years. many problems still plague us today. here to tell us where we go from here, the president and c.e.o. the league.

afternoon, fellow americans. i stand today on the shoulders of martin luther king, whitney oung, john lewis, a. phillip randolph and the many leaders of 1963 who sacrificed, who marched, who demonstrated courage and bravery in the face of attack so that we can be here today. i can, as a representative of the next generation, that has had the opportunity to walk into a conference board room, walk into city halls and county halls, in the halls of justice, into the justice department, and es, into 1600 pennsylvania

avenue soley because of the sacrifices and the briferi of those whose names we remember and those we don't. i stand here today to call on this great and mighty nation to wake up. ke up to unfair legalities parading as morality. wake up to insensitivity to the mask of fiscal austerity. wake up to not a positive purpose. it is time, america, to wake up. 50 years ago, that sleeping giant was awakened. somewhere along the way, we have dozed. we have been quelled by the lullaby of false prosperity. we fell into a slumber. somewhere along the way, white

sheets were traded for button down white shirts. attack dogs and water hoses were traded for tasers and widespread implementation of stop-and-print policies. nuste nooses -- nooses were traded for handcuffs. we gained new enemies -- cynicism and complaceny. murders from urban america to suburban america. the pursuit of power for power's sake. we stand here today to say, it is time to wake up. so here in 2013, we stand before he statue of the great emancipator. we look toward the statue of the great liberator. we say we have come to wake up a new civil rights movement for economic justice. a new civil rights movement for freedom in these days.

a new civil rights movement for jobs. a new civil rights movement for men, for women, for children of all backgrounds, all races, all depiss positions, all orientations, all cities, all counties, all towns all across america. america, it is time for us to wake up. the 21st century agenda for jobs and freedom comes alive today. we stand on the shoulders of the great men and women of yesterday, and we affirm this new commitment for today and tomorrow. god bless you. god, thank you. and god bless this great nation. >> good afternoon. i am the chair of the congressional black caucus. i am the chair of the congressional back caucus because dr. martin luther king

acted upon his dream. dr. king was not just a dreamer, but the voice of a movement. in 1953 there were five members of the congressional black caucus. today there are 44 african-american members in ongress. why -- dr. king dreamed of an america where every american would have the opportunity to pursue the dream of his own. dr. king advocated for an america where everyone would be forwarded their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. a nation where there would be equal protection under the law, and a country where every person's right to vote would be protected. he dreamed of an america where every child has access to quality schools and an education that prepares them for their future. he dreamed that we as a nation

would caucus together on the swift path toward justice. now it is up to us, a congress of the united states of america to ensure an america that is decent for all citizens. now it is up to us to ensure we have a criminal justice system that does not value one life more than another. now it is up to us to make sure hungry to school or to bed. it is our time to make dr. king's dream our reality. dr. king said that 1963 was not an end but a new beginning. let us make today the start of a new chapter in the history of this country. and let us march forward toward justice together. thank you.

>> brothers and sisters, we are ud proud to join the freedom fighters across this country and insisting on the freedoms that are on the back of your programs. and in the spirit of the civil rights economic ploip on chose shoulders we stand, i want you to join me in repeating the pledges of the freedoms we are committing ourselves today. the freedom to participate in government. the freedom to prosper in life. the freedom to peacefully co-exist. our members are proud to join with leaders, community leaders, state leaders in joining our

hands in a renewed commitment to pending the arc toward justice and continuing the struggle to achieve racial equality and economic equality for all by delivering on the promise of the afford yabbling care act, insisting that we prevail in common sense immigration reform now, and by joining together to create good jobs by supporting workers all across this country who have the guts to stand up, join together, and demand a living wage from their employers. the fight continues. we want to work for a just society where all work is valued , every human being is respected, where every family , and mmunity can thrive where we, brothers and sisters, join together in pursuing the freedom to have a better and

more equal society for the next generation. thank you. >> please welcome, actor and singer, jamie foxx. >> how are we doing? let's make some noise for 50 years. let's make some noise. listen, i don't have too much time. i'm hear to celebrate what dr. king did 50 years ago. i'm probably not going to read from the teleprompter, i'm just going to speak from my heart. i will tell you now, it is time for every one of us to renew the dream. i was affected by the trayvon martin situation, i was affected by sandy hook. it is time for us to pick up. harry belafonte saw me at the image awards, and he asked me, what am i willing to do.

we took it a step further. my daughter who is 19 years old, i said, if you want to get inspired, listen to this man speak. when i sat with mr. belefonte, he asked my daughter, "how old are you?" my daughter said, 19. i said mr. belefonte, what were you doing at 19? he said "i was coming home from world war ii. when i got back to america, i wasn't allowed to vote. so i left my country. i love america, but i reeled i had more work today. so i told my friends, al, jesse, and martin, you marched. " >> i said, what do you mean? he looked at my daughter. he said martin luther king. have you heard of him? and we sat there and we cried. what we need to do now, the young folks pick it up now, so when we're 87 years old, we can

say it was me, will smith p. jayzee, kerry washington. don't make me start preaching up here. last but not least, i have to ecognize, mr. barry gordy not only did harry belefonte bail mr. king out of jail so he could march, he also paid for coretta scott king's bills as long as she was on this planet. last thing is this, we have to salute mr. barry gordy, because he put dr. king's speech on an album and put it out on motown records, and after he did that, he turned around and gave those reels to the king family. thank you so much.

o not forget 50 years. >> jamie foxx, ladies and gentlemen. >> we welcome one of our true heroes. a man that needs no introduction. of n who is the president the national action network. he reverend al sharpton. >> 50 years ago, when they game to washington, it was not for an event. it was in the middle of struggle. r it was in the middle of battles to break down the palls walls of apartheid in america. dr. king and those that fought

with him, they fought and they eat jim crowe. we come today not only to commemorate, but we come as the jirn of dr. king, to say we are going to face jim crowe children. because jim crowe had a son esq.d james crowe, junior, suppressing laws. they come with laws that tell people to stand their ground. they come with laws that tell people to stop. but i come to say just like our mothers and fathers beat jim crowe, we will beat james crowe jr. esquire.

>> they call dr. king the moses generation. joshua does not fight the fight for moses, they are not really joshuas. we saw dr. king and the dream cross the red sea of apart i'd -- apartheid and segregation. we have to cross the jordan of unequal economic paths. we have to cross the jordan of continued discrimination and mass incarceration. we have to keep on fighting, and we have to vind indicate and stand up and substantiate that the dream was not for one generation, the dream goes on until the dream is achieved. lastly, we made it this far. not because of what we had in our pockets, but what we had in our hearts. not because of what we owned,

but because of who owned us. we thank a mighty god for giving us a martin luther king. we thank a mighty god that brought us a long way. he brought us from disgrace to amazing grace. he brought us from the butler to the president. he brought us from beula to oprah. we are going to keep on fighting until the dream is a reality. thank you, and god bless you. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome randy weingarten. >> ladies and gentlemen, sisters and brothers, i am the president of the 1.5 million member federation of teachers. have come so far -- king,

evers, park, chavez -- and so many others who have come forward to confront the migsy -- malignancy of prejudice and gation. supreme court has turned its back on voter suppression. many will once again be denied the right to vote. of today's poor will stay poor. millions of americans work hard ery day but can't earn a living wage or exercise their right to collectively bargain. children --ls where children need the most sometimes get the least. there is a struggle for good jobs and decent wages.

public education is an economic necessity, an anchor of democracy, and a fundamental right. so we celebrate today that we have become a country that believes in equality and we recommit ourselves to be a country that acts on that abelief. and that starts with reclaiming the promise of public education. not as it is today or as it was in the past, but what we need it to be to fill fulfill our collective responsibility to all of god's children. a great nation ensures that every neighborhood public school is a good school. it takes great pains to take the working poor and child hunger conditions of the past. it honors the right much are -- it honors the rights of workers. a great nation is one that acts to lifting up toward opportunity and justice.

we at the a.f.t. will work to keep the dream alive. thank you. >> not only do we pay homage to those here 50 years ago, we also celebrate the anniversary of the gettysburg address and the emancipation proclamation. like many of you, i am the

grandson of a slave. father mother and his were property. as a young girl she'd been given away as a wedding prnt present. when that bride became pregnant, that owner exercised his wife to -- his right to take his slave wife. that was my grandmother. he walked across kentucky to clenl, and the college let him in. he belonged to a transcendent generation of black americans. a generation born of slavery, freed by the civil war. martin luther king belonged to a transcendent group of african-americans, too. determined to make their way as free women and men. when my grandfather graduated from korea, the college asked him to deliver the commencement

address. he said then, the president from his corner looks out on a world of wickedness and sin and blinded by all that is good and hopeful of the human race, bewails the state of affairs and predicts woeful things for the future. in every cloud he holds a destructive storm. at every flash of lightning, a moment of evil. every shadow, a lurking foe. he forgets that the clouds also bring life and hope. that the lightning purifies the atmosphere. that hardships and adversity nerve the race as the individuals for greater efforts and grander victories. we are still being tested by hardships and diversity from the elevation of stand your ground laws to the evisceration of the voting rights act. but today we commit ourselves to greater efforts and grander victories. thank you.

about ve been praying his dream we shall overcome my whole life

he never left me allelujah ♪

♪ thank you lord

hank you lord keep rolling hank you lord ♪ thank you hank you lord

♪ ♪ ♪ thank you lord

>> my father, lyndon jondson, a passionate believer in equality, spoke these words. "100 years ago the slaves were freed. 100 years later, the negro remains in bondage to the color of his skin. the negro today asks for justice.

we do not ask for those who lie beneath this soil. we reply by asking patience. " he spoke on memorial day 1963. at the 100th anniversary of the civil war. he was vice president at that time, and it was three months before the historical march on washington that we commemorate today. my father, the grandson of a confederate soldier, may not have seemed the most obvious ally to the movement, a white southerner from jim crowe south, he was no young idealist fresh out of college, nor was racial equality a pressing idea of the minority of his constituents. rather, the opposite. but as a teacher, he had seen the polite of his mexican-american students, and dr. king's powerful dream found

a kindred spirit in my father who cared deeply about fairness and equality. when the tragedy of president kennedy's assassination propelled him to the presidency, he used every power at his disposal, including his considerable legislative muscle to push through the civil rights , the voting right of 1965, and the fair housing act of 1968. and daddy's last year in the white house, signing the third civil rights bill, he wrote "i do not exaggerate when i say, the proudest moments of my presidency have been in times such as this when i have signed

into law the promises of a century." recently the supreme court struck down part of the voting rights act which did so much to combat voting inequality in our country. now 50 years later, they are using examples from current events to show how much farther we have to go to achieve a color blind america. but remember, too, that fairness and equality are powerful ideals that resonate with all americans, and with a message as inspiring and timeless as the dream of dr. king, there will be unexpected allies if only we look for them. and you know what his wife said, coretta scott king said, "freedom is never really won. you earn it and win it in every generation." and she was right. let's go forward like jamie

foxx said. thank you. >> caroline kennedy. >> thank you, linda. johnson-ross. good afternoon. 50 years ago, my father watched from the white house as dr. king and thousands of others recommitted america to our highest ideals. over the proceeding months, president kennedy put the full course of the federal government on the side of the movement. calling on all americans to recognize that we face a moral crisis as old as the scrip tours and as clear as the american constitution. his brothers, my uncle bobby and

teddy, my eunice, continued his commitment, working to expand the promises made here, to others suffering from iscrimination and exclusion. a few months ago, after the trayvon martin verdict was handed down and the supreme court eadvice rated -- eviscerated the voting rights act, president obama did the same, reminding us all that each generation must rededicate itself to the unfinished work of building a free and just america. and ars ago, our parents grandparents marched for jobs and freedoms. we have suffered and sacrificed too much to let their dream become a memory. the children in our failing schools are all of our children. the victims of hate crimes and gun violence are our brothers and sisters. in the words of an old japanese

proff herb, the water flows on, but the river remains. now it is time to draw renewed strength from what happened here and work together for a better world. thank you. >> for the movement of conciliation, forrest whitaker. >> it is a great honor to be ere on the 50th anniversary of martin luther king's march on washington. each of you had individual dreams which may seem separate and exclusive. but we all share a common bond. your presence here today says bring more want to

love to the world. as i travel as a goodwill ambassador for peace, i saw change firsthand. i have seen youths senselessly killed, people struggling for food, for a decent home, and i on, and justice, recall the sit-ins experienced here in the 1960's. i remember the words of dr. martin luther king which were "i have decided to stick with love. hate is too great a burden to bear." [applause] we've all seen images of those days from the civil rights movement. pictures of segregated water fountains, movie theaters. in those amazing photos, i've

been drawn to the men, women, and children who were the silent heroes. many remain nameless, but their eroic faces remind us of the sacrifices. they risked their lives working tirelessly to bring about change. today i want to celebrate those nameless individuals as we reflect on the last 50 years. and in doing so i. want you to cognize the hero that exists inside yourselves. to understand that every step you take around an unknown corner marks your bravery. when we overcome life's hurdles, when we face and conquer our fears, when we help others become their better selves we are committing small acts of

heroism. nd if i were to take a picture of this crowd right now, people would see some of your faces in the movements that are starting today. this is your moment to join those silent heroes of the past, individuals who stood in the very spot where you stand today. you now have the responsibility to carry the torch as we gather here at the foot of this crowd of the lincoln memorial as hundreds of thousands did on this day 50 years ago. our remaining courage. let's be the generation to make a true difference in the world. let's create meaningful change, change that we can all believe in and share in. my mother always told me, you believe in the things that i believe, but you

have to believe in something. search. search to find the thing that you believe in. the thing that you believe will help mankind and then act upon it. like so many silent heroes in the movie, each of us can spark change by working to strengthen our communities and to shape our common destiny. so as the bell rings today, my dream is that someone will resonate inside you and me that will remind us each of our common bond. i'd like to leave you with these words by dr. king. hatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. " [applause] "i can never be what i ought to be until you are what you ought to be." may god bless you." may we remain connected in love. we are one. thank you. [applause]

♪ live the glory of god

god is a god of glory god is glorious god exists to be glore dentified ♪ ♪ in sfite spite of my failures, i've been called and because of calvary i've been glore identified

and to all of these things hat do we say? god before who can be against us? ♪ o don't be afraid nor the arrow that flies by the day angels to en his atch over you

if god is before us who can be against us? with god before us who can be against us with god before me who can be against me? with god before us who can be against pus? with god before us who can be against us? with god before us who can be against us with god before me

who can be against me? with god before us who can be against us? ♪ with god before me who can be against me? ♪ if god is before us who can be against us? with god before us who can be against us? ♪ with god before me who can be against me?

with god before us who can be against us? with god before us who can be against us with god before me ho can against me? with god before us who can be against us? with god before me who can be against me?

♪ god before us who can be against us ♪ ♪ god before us who can be against us ♪ god before me who can be against us ♪ ♪ with god before me who can be against me? [applause] >> as many people have pointed

out today, the reason it works, e reason we achieved victory is because we are on the side of -- righteousness. and before you leave here today, i want you to know -- i wish i had some help here. i said, i wish i had some help here. [cheers and applause] >> if god is with you, no matter how many trials, no matter how many trials, if god is before us, no one can stand against us. god's with me, ♪ if before us, who can be against us ? if god is before us who can be against us? no matter how long it takes p if

god is before me, who can be ainst me i might have to sing in the rain some time, but if god is before us who can be against us well, well, well, well i mean if god is before me ho can be against us nobody can be if god's before us ho can be against us if god's before us who can be against us? if god's before me who can be against me? if god's before me

who can be against me? if god's before us who can be against us? f god's before us who can be against us if god's before us who can be against us if god's before us who can be against us

♪ if god's before us who can be depens us ♪ ♪ if god's before us, who can be against us? if god's before me who can be against me? ♪

♪ he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got you and me brother in his hands he's got you and me brother in his hands he's got you and me brother in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands ♪ he's got you and me sister in his hands he's got you and me sister in his hands he's got you and me sister in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands ♪ ♪ he's got everybody in -- here in his hands he's got everybody here in his hands he's got everybody here in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands ♪

♪ he's got the whole world in his hands ♪ [applause] ♪

♪

♪ ♪ ♪ open the eyes of my

heart, lord open the eyes of my heart force i want to see you i want to see you ♪ ♪ thank you god [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, oprah winfrey. cheers and applause] >> hello, everybody! i am absolutely thrilled to be here. i remember when i was 9 years old and the march was occurring and i asked my mama, can i go to the march? it dook me 50 years, but i'm here. on this date in this place at this time 50 years ago today, dr. martin luther king shared his dream for america with america. dr. king was the passionate voice that awakened the conscience of a nation inspired people all over the world. the power of his words resonated because they were spoken out of

an unwaivering belief in freedom, justice, equality and opportunity for all. let freedom ring was dr. king's closing call for a better and more just america. so today, people from all walks life will gather at 3 clock p.m. for bell ringing events across our great country and around the world, as we reaffirm our commitment to dr. king's ideal. dr. king believed that our destinies are all intertwined, and he knew that our hopes and our dreams are really all the same. he challenged us to see how we all are more alike than we are different. for as the bells of freedom ring

today, we are hoping it is a sign for all of us to reflect on not only the progress that has been made, and we have made a lot, but on what we have accomplished, and also on the work that still remains before us. it is an opportunity today to recall where wre once were in this nation and to think about that young man who at 34 years old stood up here and was able to force an entire country to wake up, to look at itself, and o eventually change. and as we the people continue to honor the dream of a man and a movement, a man who in his short and injusticering

and refused to look the other way, we can be inspired, and we, too, can be courageous by continuing to walk in the footsteps of the path that he forged. he's the one who remined us, that we will never walk alone. major after all, and injusticm for justice. so as the bells toll today, let us reflect on the bravery, let us reflect on the sacrifice of those who stood up for freedom, who stood up for us, whose shoulders we now stand on. d as the bells toll today at ask ourselves how will the dream live on in me, in you, in all of us? as the bells toll, let us remind ourselves, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. as the bells toll, we commit to a life of service because dr. king, one of my favorite quotes will the dream live on major m

is, not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service. so we ask ourselves, what are we doing for others to live others up? and as the bells toll, we must recommit so that the love that applies and connects each of us to shine through and let freedom ring. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome the king family, welcoming the honorable john lewis of georgia.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome president jimmy carter, president bill clinton, first lady michelle obama, and the president of the united states, barack obama. [cheers and applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for our national anthem performed by identity for pop.

>> ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say does that star-spangled

banner yet wave o'er the land of the free ♪nd the home of the brave ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, john lewis. >> president and mrs. obama, president clinton, president carter, i want to thank bernice king, the king family and the national park service for inviting me here to speak today. when i look out over this diverse crowd and survey the guests on this platform, it

seems to realize what otis redding was singing about and what martin luther king was preaching. this has been a long time coming, but a change has come. we are standing here in the shadow of abraham lincoln 150 years after he issued the emancipation proclamation, and only 50 years after the historic march on washington for jobs and freedom. we have come a great distance in this country in the 50 years, but we still have a great distance to go before we fulfill the dream of martin luther king. sometimes i hear people saying nothing has changed, but for someone to grow up the way i

grew up in the cotton fields of alabama to now be serving in the united states congress makes me want to tell them come and walk in my shoes. come walk in the shoes of those who were attacked by police dogs, by hoses and night sticks, arrested and taken to jail. i first came to washington in the same year that president obama was born to participate in the freedom rides. in 1961, black and white people could not be seated together on a greyhound bus. so we decided to take on integrated fashion rides from

here to new orleans. but we never made it there. over 400 of us were arrested and jailed in mississippi during the freedom rides. a bus was set on fire in anderson, alabama. we were beaten, arrested and jailed. but we helped bring an end to segregation in public transportation. i came back here again in june of 1963 as the new chairman of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. we met with president kennedy, who said he defied the feeling in america. we had to pay a poll tax, pass a so-called literacy test, count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap or the number of jelly beans in a jar.

hundreds of thousands of people were arrested and jailed throughout the south for trying to participate in the democratic process. medger evers had been killed. that is why we told president kennedy we planned a march on washington. on august 28, 1963, the nation's capitol was in a state of emergency. thousands of troops surrounded the city. workers were told to stay home. stores were closed. but the march was so orderly, with dignity and self-respect because we believed in the way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence.

people came that day to that march dressed like they were on their way to a religious service. mahalia jackson sang how we got over. there were thousands of us together, in a strange sense it seemed like the whole place started rocking. we truly believed in every human being, even those who were violent toward us there was a spark of the devine. and no person had the right to scar or destroy that spark. martin luther king jr. taught us the way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence. he taught us to have the power to forgive, the capacity to be reconciled. he taught us to stand up, to

speak up, to speak out, to find a way to get in the way. people were willing to put their bodies on the line for a greater cause, greater than themselves. not one incident of violence was reported that day. because of the leadership of the movement. the spirit of dr. king's words captured the hearts of people not just around america, but around the world. on that day, martin luther king jr. made a speech, but he also delivered a sermon. he transformed these marble steps of the lincoln memorial

into a mondern-day pulpit. he changed us forever. after the ceremony was over, president kennedy invited us back down to the white house. he met us standing in the door of the oval office and he was beaming like a proud father as he shook the hands of each one of us he said, you did a good job. you did a good job. and he said to dr. king, and you have a dream. 50 years later we can ride anywhere we want to ride, stay where we want to stay. those signs that say white and colored are gone. and you won't see them any more. except in a museum, in a book,

or on a video. but there are still invisible signs, barriers in the heart of human kind that draw a gap between us. too many of us still believe our differences define us instead of the define spark that runs through all of human creation. the scars and stains of racism still remain in society where they stop and frisk in new york or have injustice in the case of tray on this martin. the incarceration of millions of americans, immigrants hiding in the shadow, unemployment, homelessness, poverty, hunger or the renewed struggle for voting rights. we must never ever give up, we must never ever give in, we must

keep the faith and keep our eyes on the prize. [applause] >> we did go to jail. but we got the civil rights act. we got a voting rights act. we got a fair housing act. but we must continue to push. we must continue to work. as the late organizer for the march said in 1963, we may have come here on different ships but we are all in the same boat now. so, it doesn't matter whether we are black or white, latino, asian american or native american, whether we are gay or

straight, one one people, one family, we all live in the same house, not just the american house, but the world's house. and when we finally assess these truths, then we will be able to fulfill dr. king's dreams to build a beloved community, a nation and a world at peace with itself. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome the 39th president of the united states,

jimmy carter. >> i'm greatly honored to be here. i realize that most people know that it is highly unlikely that any of us three over to my right would have served in the white house or be on this platform had it not been for martin luther king jr. and his movement and crusader for civil rights. so, we are grateful to him for our being here. i'm also proud that i came from the same part of the south as he did. he never lost contact with the folks back home. he was in tennessee helping garbage workers when he gave his life to a racist bullet. i remember how it was back in those days. i left georgia in 1943 for college and the navy. when i came home, from the submarine duty i was put on the board of education. i suggested to the other members

that we visit all the schools in the county. they had never done there before. they were reluctant to go with me. but we finally did it. and we found that white children had three nice brick buildings but the african-american children had 26 different elementary schools in the county. they were in churches, living rooms, and a few were in barns. they had so many because there were no school buses for african-american children and they had to be within walking distance of where they went to class. their school books were outdated and worn out. and every one of them had a white child's name in the front of a book. we finally obtained some buses and in the state legislature ordained that the front fenders

be painted black. not even the school buses could be equal to each other. one of the finest moments of my life was 10 months after dr. king's famous speech right here when president lyndon johnson signed the civil rights act. i was grateful when the king family adopted me as their presidential candidate in 1976. every handshake from dr. king, from daddy king, every hug for coretta, got me a million yankee votes. daddy king prayed at the democratic convention, for quite a while, and coretta was in the hotel room with me and rosalyn when i was elected president. my presidential battle of freedom citation to coretta said he gazed at the great wall of segregation and saw that the

power of love could bring it down. he made our nation stronger because he played it better. we were able to create a national historic site where dr. king lived, worked and worshiped. it is next door to the carter center linked by a walking path. he added it is not enough to have a right to sit a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a meal. he also said the ghetto still

looks the same even from the front seat of a bus. perhaps the most challenging statement of martin luther king jr. was, and i quote, the question of our time is how to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. in the nobel prize ceremony of 2002, i said to my fellow georgians the greatest leader that my native state and perhaps my native country has ever produced and i was not excluding presidents and even the founding fathers when i said this. i believe we all know how dr. king would have reacted to the new idea of promise to exclude certain voters especially african-americans.

i think we all now how dr. king would have reacted to the supreme court's striking down a crucial part of the voter rights act recently passed overwhelmingly by congress. i think we know how dr. king would have reacted to unemployment among african- americans being almost twice the rate of white people and for teenagers at 42%. i think we would all know how dr. king would have reacted to our country being awash in guns and for more and more states passing "stand your ground" laws. i think we know how dr. king would have reacted for people from the district of columbia still not having full citizenship rights. [cheers and applause] >> and i think we all know how dr. king would have reacted to have more than 835,000 african-

american men in prison, five times as many as when i left office and with one-third of all african-american members being destined to being imprisoned in their lifetime. there's a tremendous agenda ahead of us and i'm thankful to martin luther king jr. and his dream is still alive. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> and now, please welcome the 42nd president of the united states, bill clinton. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. mr. president, mrs. obama, president carter, vice president biden. i want to thank my great friend reverend bernice king and the king family for inviting me to be part of this 50th observation of one of the most important days in american history. dr. king and john lewis, dorothy heights.

daisy bates and all the others who led the march knew what they were doing on this hallowed ground. in the shadow of lincoln's statue, the burning memory of the fact that he gave his life to preserve the union and end slavery, martin luther king urged his crowd not to drink from the cup of bitterness, but to reach across the racial divide. because, he said, we cannot walk alone. their destiny is tied up with our destiny. their freedom is bound to our freedom.

he asked the victims of racial violence to meet white americans with outstretched hands, not a clenched fist and prove the redeeming power of unearned suffering. and then he dreamed of an america where all citizens would sit together at a take of brotherhood and little white boys and girl and little black boys and girls would hold hands across the color line. where his own children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. this march and that speech changed america. they opened minds, they melted hearts, and they moved millions including a 17-year-old boy

watching alone in his home in arkansas. it was an empowering moment but also an empowered moment. as the great chronicler of those years taylor branch wrote, the movement here gained a force to open the stubborn gates of freedom and out flowed the civil rights act, voting rights act, medicaid, medicare, open housing. it is well to remember the leaders and foot soldiers were both idealists and tough realists. they had to be. it was a violent time. just three months later we lost president kennedy and we thank god that president johnson came in and fought for all of those issues i just mentioned. [applause] >> just five years later, we

lost senator kennedy. and in between there was the carnage of the fight for jobs, freedom and equality. just 18 days after this march four little children were killed in the birmingham church bombing. then there were the ku klux klan murders, the mississippi lynchings. and a dozen others, until in 1968 dr. king himself was martyr ed still marching for jobs and freedom. what a debt we owe to those people who came here 50 years ago. [aus >> a dream as john lewis said that millions have now actually lived. how are we going to repay the

debt? dr. king's dream of interdependence, his prescription of whole-hearted cooperation across racial lines, they ring as true today as they did 50 years ago. oh, yes, we face terrible political gridlock now. read a little history. it is nothing new. yes, there remain racial inequality in employment, income, health, wealth, incarceration and in the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. but we don't face beatings, lynchings and shootings for our political beliefs any more and i would respectfully suggest that martin luther king did not live and die to hear his heirs whine about political gridlock. it is time to start complaining and put our shoulders against the stubborn gates holding the american people back.

we cannot be disheartened by the forces of resistance to building a modern economy of good jobs and rising income or rebuilding our education system to give our children a common core of knowledge necessary to ensure success. or to give americans of all ages access to affordable college and training programs. and we thank the president for his efforts in those regards. we cannot relax in our efforts to implement health care reform in a way that ends discrimination against those with preexisting conditions, one of which is inadequate income to pay for rising health care. a health care reform that will lower costs and lengthen lives. nor can away stop investing in science and technology to train young people of all races for

the jobs of tomorrow and to act on what we learned about our bodies, our businesses, and our climates. we must push open those stubborn gates. we cannot be discouraged by a supreme court decision that said we don't need this critical provision of the voting rights act because look at the states. it made it harder for armies and hispanics and students and elderly and infirm and poor working folks to vote. what do you know? they showed up, stood in line for hours and voted anyway. so obviously we don't need any kind of law. [applause] >> but a great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon.

[applause] >> we must open those stubborn gates. and let us not forget while racial divides persist and must not be denied, the whole american landscape is littered with the lost dreams and dashed hopes of people of all races. and the great irony of the current moment is that the future has never brimmed with more possibilities. it has never burned brighter in what we could become if we push open those stubborn gates. and if we do it together. the choice remains as it was on that distant summer day 50 years ago. cooperate and thrive or fight with even other and fall behind. we should all thank god for dr. king and john lewis and all of those who gave us a dream to guide us.

a dream they paid for like our founders with their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor. we thank them for reminding us that america is always becoming, always on a journey, and we all, every single citizen among us, have to run our laps. god bless them and god bless america. [cheers and applause] >> please give a warm welcome to martin luther king iii. >> mr. president, madam first lady, president carter, president clinton, congressman lewis, and to all program

participants, this is an unusual moment in our world history as we observe the 50th anniversary. and i'm so thankful for the opportunities to really thank america for helping to realize the dream. although i must say it is not yet realized. so we must redouble and quadruple our efforts. so much has been said today -- and i was 5 years old in 1963 when dad delivered his message so, i'm blessed that we were able to bring our daughter, who

is hopefully paying attention, 5 years old, so that she can appreciate this history and continue to participate. there are two quick other things that i want to say. i have been speaking all week, as many of us have. but i'm reminded that dad challenged us. that's what he did, challenged our nation to be a better nation for all god's children. i'm reminded that he taught us the power of love, agape love, the love that is totally unselfish, you love somebody if you are old, young, white, black, native american, latino, it doesn't matter because god calls us to do that. love and forgiveness is what we need more of, not just in our nation but throughout the world.

so i want to rush to tell you dad said the ultimate measure of a human being is where one stands not in times of comfort and convenience but in times of challenge and controversy. he said on some questions cowardice acts is the position, speed is vanity is a position popular but that something deep inside calls conscience acts is a position of rights so often talked about sometimes we must take positions that are neither safe nor popular nor politic but must take those positions because our conscience tells us they are right. our families say this afternoon we've got a lot of work to do, but none of us should be tired. why? because we've come much too far from where we started. you see, no one ever told any of us that our roads would be easy, but i know our god, our god, our god did not bring any of us this far to leave us.

thank you and god bless you. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome. >> thank you. president obama and mrs. obama, presidents clinton and carter, other distinguished program participants, i'm honored to be among you today and to address this historic gathering. i don't know if i am the most senior speaker to address this

assembly today, but i'm certainly and surely the only person alive who knew martin luther king jr. when he was a baby. it has been my great privilege to watch my little brother grow and thrive and develop into a fine man and then a great leader whose legacy continues to inspire countless millions around the world. unfortunately, a bout with a new virus 50 years ago prevented me from attending the original march. but i was able to watch it on television, and i was as awe-

struck as everyone else. i knew martin was an excellent preacher because i had seen him deliver on many occasions. but on that day, martin achieved greatness because he melded the hopes and dreams of millions into a grand vision of healing, reconciliation and brotherhood. the dream my brother shared with our nation and world on that sweltering day, a day 50 years ago, continues to further clear and sustain nonviolent activists worldwide in that struggle for freedom and human rights. indeed, this gathering provides a powerful testament of hope and proof positive that martin's

great dream wille great dream will live on in the hearts of humanity for generations to come. our challenge as followers of martin luther king jr. is to now honor his life, leadership and legacy by living our lives in a way that carries forward the unfinished work. there is no better way to honor his sacrifices and contributions than by becoming champions of nonviolence. in our homes, communities and places of work, worship and learning wherever, every day. the dream martin shared on that day a half century ago remains a definitive statement of the

american dream, the beautiful vision of a diverse, freedom- loving people united in our love of justice, brotherhood and sisterhood. yes, they can play the dream but they cannot destroy his dream. his dream is a vision not yet to be realized, a dream yet unfilled and we have much to do before we can celebrate the dream as a reality. as the suppression of voting rights and horrific violence

that has taken the lives of trayvon martin and young people all across america and has so painfully demonstrated. but, despite the influences and challenges we face, we are here today to affirm the dream. we are not going to be discouraged. we are not going to be distract the. we are not going to be defeated. instead, we are going forward into this uncertain future with courage and determination to make the dream a vibrant reality. so, the work to fulfill the dream goes on.

and despite the daunting challenges we face on the road to the beloved community, i feel that the dream is sinking deep and nourishing roots all across america and around the world. may it continue to thrive and spread and help bring justice, peace and liberation to all humanity. thank you and god bless you all. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome reverend dr. bernice king. >> president obama, mrs. obama, president carter and clinton, congressman lewis, ambassador

young, my brother martin iii, to my entire family. i was five months old when my father delivered his "i have a dream" speech and i probably was somewhere crawling on the floor or taking a nap after having a meal. but the day is a glorious day because on this program today we have witnessed a manifestation of the beloved community. and we thank everyone for their presence here today. today we have been honored to have three presidents of the united states. 50 years ago, the president did not attend. today we are honored to have

many women in the planning and mobilization of the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. [applause] >> 50 years ago, there was not a single woman on the program. today we are honored to have not just one young person but several young people on the program today. it is certainly a tribute to the work and legacy of so many people that have gone on before us. 50 years ago today, in a symbolic shadow of abraham lincoln my father stood in this very spot and declared to this nation his dream to let freedom ring all the people being manacled by a system of discrimination. he commissioned us to go back to our various cities, towns, hamlets, states and villages and let freedom ring. the reverberation of the sound of that freedom message has amplified and echoed since 1963 through the decades and coast to

coast throughout this nation and even around the world. and as we are summoned again back to these hallowed grounds to send out a clarion call to let freedom ring. since that time, as a result of the civil rights act of 1964, voting rights act of 1965, the fair housing act of 1968, we have witnessed great strides toward freedom for all regardless of race, color, gender, relying, national origin, disability, class or sexual orientation. 50 years later in this year of jubilee, we are standing once again in the shadow of that great emancipator, having been summoned to these hallowed

grounds to reverberate the message of that great liberator. for there is a remnant from 1963, congressman lewis, ambassador young, that still remain who has come to bequeath that message of freedom it a new generation of people who must now carry that message in their towns, their community. amongst their tribes and amongst their nations of the world. we must keep the sound and the message of freedom and justice going. it was my mother as has been said previously coretta scott king who in fact 30 years ago assembled a coalition of conscience that started us on this whole path of remembering the anniversary of the march on washington.

she reminded us that struggle is a never-ends progress. you earn it and win in every generation. so away come once again to let freedom ring. because if freedom stops ringing then the sound will disappear and the atmosphere will be charged with something else. 50 years later we come once again to this special landing on the steps of the lincoln memorial to reflect, to renew, and to rejuvenate for the continued struggle of freedom and justice. for today, 50 years later, my friends, we are still crippled by practices and policies steeped in racial pride, hatred and hostility. some of which have us standing our ground rather than finding common ground. we are still chained by economic

disparity, income and class inequality, and conditions of poverty for many of god's children around this nation and the world. we are still bound by a cycle of civil unrest and inherent social biases in our nation and world that often times degenerate into violence and destruction, especially against women and children. we are at this landing and now we must break the cycle. the prophet king spoke the vision. he made it plain. and we must run with it in this generation. his prophetic vision and magnificent dream described the yearning of people all over the world to have the freedom to prosper in life, wigs the right to pursue one's aspirations, purposes, dreams, well-being, without oppressive, depressive, repressive practices, behaviors, laws and conditions that diminish one's dignity and denies one life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

the freedom to participate in government, which is the right to have a voice and a say in how you are represented, regulate and governed without threats of tyranny, disenfranchisement, exclusionary tactics and behavior and to have freedom to peacefully co-exist which is the right to be respected in one's self-hood, individuality and uniqueness without fear of attack, assault or abuse. in 1967, my fare asked a poignant and critical question. where do we go from here? chaos or community? and we say with a resounding voice no to chaos, and yes to community. if we are going to rid ourselves of the chaos, then we must make

a necessary shift. nothing is more tragic than for us to fail to achieve new attitudes and new mental outlooks. we have an opportunity to reset the means by which we live, work and enjoy our lives. if we are going to continue to struggle of freedom and create true community we will have to be relentless in exposing, confronting and ridding ourselves of the mind set of pride and greed and selfishness and hate and lust and fear and idleness and lack of purpose and lack of love as my brother said for our neighbor. we must seize this moment. the dawning of a new day. the emergence of a new generation who has postured to if we are going to continue to struggle of freedom and create true community we will have to be relentless in exposing, confronting and ridding ourselves of the mind set of pride and greed and selfishness and hate and lust and fear and change the world through collaborative power.

as i close, i call upon my brother by the name of nehemiah who was also in the midst of rebuilding a community and in the midst of rebuilding a community he brought the leaders, rumors and rest of the people together and told them that the work is great and large and we are widely separated one from another on the wall. but when you hear the sound of the trumpet and might i say we you hear the sound of the bells today, come to that spot and our god will fight with us. so, today we are going to let freedom ring all across this nation. when you hear the sound of the bell today, come to that spot and our god will fight with us. today we are going to let freedom ring all across this nation. let freedom ring everywhere we go. if freedom is going to ring in libya, syria, egypt, florida, we must reach across the table, feed each other, and let freedom

ring. [applause] >> in 1963, the church was bombed. the bell was saved. thanks to the church and william bell, that bell is here to help celebrate dr. king's legacy and that day. let freedom ring. [bell struck]

[applause] please welcome our next performer, heather headley. ♪ ♪ father ♪ help your children ♪ don't let them fall by the side ♪ ♪ teach them ♪ to love one another

♪ ♪ in my heart ♪

♪

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america.

[applause] >> to the king family, who have sacrificed and inspired so much, to president clinton, president carter, vice president biden and jill, fellow americans -- five decades ago, today, americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made.

we hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal. they are endowed by their creator, certain inalienable rights. among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise, those truths remained unmet. and so they came by the thousands. from every corner of our country.

men and women, young and old, blacks who long for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others. across the land, congregations sent them off with food and prayer. in the middle of the night, entire blocks of harlem came out to wish them well. with the few dollars from their labor, they set on buses. those with less money hitchhiked or walked. they were seamstresses and steelworkers, students and teachers.

maids and porters. they shared simple meals and bunked together. on a hot summer day, they assembled here in our nation's capital under the shadow of the great emancipator to offer testimony of injustice. to petition their government for redress. to awaken america's long slumbering conscience.

we rightly and best remember dr. king's soaring oratory that day, how he gave hope to millions, his words belong to the ages, possessing a power unmatched in our time. we would do well to recall that day it self also belonged to those ordinary people, whose names never appeared in the history books. never got on tv. many had gone to segregated schools, sat at segregated lunch counters. they lived in towns where they could not vote, in cities where their votes did not matter. there were couples in love who could not marry.

soldiers who fought for freedom abroad that they found denied to them at home. they had seen loved ones beaten, and children fire-hosed. they had every reason to lash out in anger, or resign themselves to a bitter fate. and yet, the chose a different tack. in the face of hatred, they prayed for their fermenters. -- tormentors. in the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence. went to jailey to protest unjust laws.

swelling with the sound of freedom songs. no man can take away their dignity and grace that god grants us. they learned through hard experience what frederick douglass once taught, that freedom is not given, it must the one through discipline, persistence, and faith. that was the spirit they brought here that day. spirit young people like john lewis brought to that day. that was the spirit they carried back tom like a torch their cities and neighborhoods. that steady flame of conscience that would sustain them through the campaigns to

come. through boycott and voter registration. through the loss of four little girls in birmingham. -- at theurage of bridge. dallas andny of california and memphis. through setbacks and heartbreaks and gnawing doubt. that flame of justice flickered. and never died. because they could march, america changed. because they marched with civil rights -- the civil rights law was passed. because they marched, a voting rights law was signed, because they marched toward doors of

opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could imagine a life for themselves beyond washing someone else's laundry or shunning someone else's shoes. -- shining someone else's shoes. citywatched councils and congress change and yet eventually the white house changed. applause]d because they marched, america became more free and more fair. not just for african-americans, but for women and latinos, asians and native americans. for catholics, jews, and muslims. gays, for americans with disabilities, america changed for you and for me. drewhe entire world strength from that example.

whether it was young people who watched from the other side of an iron curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, south young people inside africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid. [applause] they are the victories one. with iron will and hope in their hearts. transformation that they brought, with each step of their well-worn shoes. that is the depth that i and millions of americans owe those maids, porters, secretaries. those white students who put themselves in harms way, even though they didn't have to.

those japanese-americans who recalled their own internment, those jewish americans who survived the holocaust. people who could have given up and given them, but kept on keeping on knowing that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. [cheers and applause] on the battlefield of justice, men and women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all in ways that our children now take for granted. people of all colors and creeds live and learn and walk together, and fight alongside one another and love one another. and judge one another by the

content of our character in this greatest nation on earth. to dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest as some sometimes do the little has changed -- that little has changed, that dishonors the courage and sacrifice sacrifice of those who paid the price to march. [cheers and applause] james chaney, andrew goodman, martin luther king, jr. -- they did not die in vain. their victory was great. but we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete.

the ark of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it does not bend on its own. to secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. whether it is by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote, or ensure that the scales of justice work equally for all in the criminal justice system -- it requires vigilance. [cheers and applause] we will suffer the occasional setback, but we will win these fights. this country has changed too much.

people of goodwill, regardless regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history's currents. in some ways, the securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination -- the very significance of these victories may have obscured the second goal of the march. for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract idea. they were there seeking jobs as well as justice. not just the absence of oppression, but the presence of

economic opportunity. [cheers and applause] for what does it profit a man, dr. king would ask, to sit at a counter if you can't afford the meal? this idea that one's liberty is linked to one's livelihood, that the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security, this idea was not new. lincoln himself understood the declaration of independence in such terms that is a promise in due time, the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. and dr. king explained that the goals of african-americans were identical to working people of

all races. decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, respect in the community. what king was describing has been the dream of every american. it has what has lured for centuries new arrivals to our shores. the second dimension of economic opportunity, the chance to honest toil to advance one's station in life.

the goals of 50 years ago have fallen short. there have been examples of success that would have been unimaginable in black america half a century ago. this has been noted, as unemployment remains almost twice that of white unemployment. the gap in wealth between races has not lessened. it has grown. as president clinton indicated, the position of all working americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream dr. king described even more elusive. over a decade, working americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnant, as corporate profits soar and as the pay of a fortunate few explodes. upward mobility has become inequality has steadily

risen over the decades. in too many communities across this country, the shadow of poverty casts a pall over our youth, their lives a fortress of substandard schools, inadequate health care, perennial violence. as we mark this anniversary, we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks could join the ranks of millionaires, it was whether this country would allow all people who are willing to work hard into the ranks of a middle-class life. [cheers and applause] the test was not and never has been whether the doors of opportunity are cracked a bit wider for a few. it is whether our economic

system provides a fair shot for many, for the black custodian and white steelworker. the immigrant dishwasher, and the native american veteran. to win that battle, to answer that call. this remains our great unfinished business. we should not fool ourselves. the task will not be easy. since 1963, the economy has changed. the twin forces of technology and global competition has subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class, reduce the bargaining power of american workers. our politics has suffered.

entrenched interests, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal. an army of lobbyists argued that minimum wage increases or stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford just to fund public schools but all these things violated sound economic principles -- that all the things violated sound economic principles. we have been told that growing inequality was a price for a growing economy. the measure of a free market. that greed was good, and compassion ineffective, and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame. then there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing the best to convince middle-class americans of a great untruth, that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic

insecurity. that distant eurocrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit -- bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit others. there were times when some of us claiming to push for change lost our way. the anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating rights -- riots. legitimate grievances against police brutality ended in excuse making for criminal behavior. racial politics could cut both ways. as a transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by discrimination. what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the

chance for all americans to work hard and get ahead, was too often framed as a mere desire for government support. as if we had no agency in our own liberation. the poverty was an excuse for not raising your child. all of that history is how that bigotry ofd. others was a reason to give up on yourself. that is how hope was diverted. it is how our country remained divided.

the good news is, just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice. we can continue down our current path, in which the gears of this great democracy grind to a halt and our children except a life of lower expectations, where politics is a zero-sum game, where if you do very well while struggling families of every race fight over shrugging economic pie. or we can have the courage to change. the march on washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history. we are masters of our fate. it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. we will have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago. i believe that spirit is there.

that force inside each of us. i see it when a mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. i see it when the black youth think of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. it is there when the nativeborn recognizes that striving spirit, when interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple and experiences it as their own. that is where courage comes from. when we turn not from each other, or on each other, but towards one another and we find that we do not walk alone. that is were courage comes from. -- where courage comes from. [cheers and applause]

with that courage, we can stand together for good jobs and just wages. we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. with that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child from the corners of anacostia to the hills of appalachia to get an education that serves the mind and catches the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. [cheers and applause] with that courage, we can feed the hard-working and house the homeless and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise. america, i know the road will be long, but i know we can get there. we will stumble, but i know we will get back up. that is how a movement happens.

that is how history bands. -- bends. that is when someone says, come on. there is a reason why so many who marched that day and in the days to come were young. the young are unconstrained by fear. unconstrained by the conventions of what is. they dare to dream differently, to imagine something better. i'm convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose serves in this generation. we might not face the same dangers as 1963, but the fierce urgency of now remains. we may never duplicate the swelling crowds, the dazzling procession. no one can match king's brilliance.

but the same claim that lifted the heart of all who are willing to take that step for justice, i 0--w that claim remains. flame remains. the tireless teacher who gets to class early and stays late and dips into her own pocket to buy supplies because she believes that every child is her charge, she is marching. [cheers and applause] that successful businessman who doesn't have to, but pays his workers a fair wage and then offers a shot to a man, maybe an ex-con, who is down on his luck, he is marching. [cheers and applause] the mother who pours her love into her daughter so she grows up with the confidence to walk through the same doors as anybody's son, she's marching. [cheers and applause] the father who realizes the most important job he will ever have

is raising his boy right, even he did not have a father, especially if you did not have a .ather at home, -- boy right, to keep serving their country when they come home, they are marching. [cheers and applause] everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day, the change does not come from washington am a but to washington -- washington, but to washington. we, the people, who take on the mantle of citizenship, you are marching. [cheers and applause] that is the lesson of our past. that is the promise of tomorrow. in the face of impossible odds,

people who love their country can change it. when millions of americans of every race, every faith and every station can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, those mountains will be made low and those rough places will be made plain and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace. we will vindicate the faith of those who sacrifice so much and live up to the true meaning of our creed as one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [cheers and applause] ♪

♪

♪

america ? [cheers and applause] ♪

♪ where peole dare to dream ♪ landrica, america, the of the free ♪ ♪ise from the ashes america i love ♪ land that

♪ ♪merica america ♪ ♪

♪

♪ ♪merica [applause]

>> another chance to see the anniversary of the march on washington. later, on washington journal, more about the situation in syria. a look at the pipeline and preventing fraud and federal education spending. u.s. chamber of commerce holds its annual labor day briefing tomorrow to discuss the tough economic issues for businesses. we will be live from their headquarters in washington, d.c. starting at 10 a.m. eastern here on c-span. are several types of leading that the left loves to engage in. basedft's philosophy is almost solely and completely at this point on the idea that the standard for victimized groups. everything they do is stand up on behalf of some victimized

minority. if they are a minority, they are standing up for you. if we oppose their policies, by necessity, we hate blacks, gays, jews, and women. sunday'sapiro is "in depth" guest. converse men john lewis will be -- congressman john lewis will be october's guest. and christina hoff summers in november. "this town," read the book and engage in our eyes but page and on twitter. >> we pictured june cleaver with a vacuum cleaner or in the kitchen frying bacon for breakfast in her pearls. that

does doesn't secure -- obscure one of the most important trends which was that forcean woman'women's labor participation increased in the 1950s. they increasingly enter the labor market across the 1950s, a decade that was so powerfully associated with women's domesticity. >> history of women in the workplace in the years hauling world word two. sunday at 1 p.m. eastern, part of the three days american history tv this labor day weekend on c-span3. our original series, first ladies, influence and image, we look at the public and private lives of the women who served as first ladies during the nation's first 112 years. it will feature the first ladies in their own words. is one of the

foundation stones upon which we would build in the world and at mr. in which peace could grow. >> i do not think the white house completely belonged to one person. it belongs to the people of america. and i think whoever lives and it, the first lady should preserve its traditions and enhance it. >> season two features 21st ladies. life monday nights including your calls, facebook comments, and tweets. starting september 9 at 9 p.m. eastern on c-span. as president obama considers the u.s. response to syria's alleged use of chemical weapons, the washington institute hosted a discussion on the u.s. relationship with syrian opposition groups and the potential implications of a u.s. strike against syria.

this is 90 minutes. >> if i may have your attention. and ie is patrick clawson would like to welcome you here today and start with a logistical note. please follow my example and turn your cell phone off. it interferes with reception even if you put it on stun. got pleased to see that we the depth of august, a pretty decent turnout and a very nice alternative location that we are using while our conference facilities are being rebuilt. i hope i will see some of you here on tuesday where we are

an event about hezbollah's mobile reach. matt levitt has got a book by that name that is being released on tuesday. event we are holding this in association with a study that we will be releasing shortly. it is a study about syria's not terry opposition, how effective [inaudible] unproofedve advanced unprove copies at the registration table. you are welcome to pick one up on the way out. it will be released soon but not yet and is not on the website yet. today, to draw upon the study and discuss the potential for

u.s. military action, we have three speakers, two of the study's authors are jeffrey white and andrew tabler. analyze the military opposition as a military force. the focus of his presentation is indeed about deposition itself and that is also the focus of andrew's presentation. following their remarks, we will own michaely eisenstadt talking about the u.s. military response options in light of the chemical weapons

what syrianand response options to u.s. options might be. let us get started with jeff white. >> thanks for coming to this. events in the region could not be more dramatic or more significant. in that context, the discussion of the syrian armed opposition is a little lester medic that maybe for the long term it is more important. can everybodye. hear me? with, the first thing i say is this is not your father's insurgency. this is a different kind of then we talkeder about in traditional insurgency

situations. -- sense ofclinical political direction. there is no central military command. there is no central -- no national nationwide military strategy being employed by the rebels. i use the historical analogy in the past and like all analogies, it is flawed that this is somewhat like the french resistance early in world war ii. degaulle and churchill to hammer them into shape. the whole resistance is a complex phenomenon in the traditional sense of complexity theory. .ots of different actors it is also a self organizing phenomenon. there has been no overarching planner concept for building the

armed opposition in syria. in many ways, it just happened. as a result of various events on the ground. it keeps changing. it is not what it was in march of 2011. in six months from now it will look different than it does today. this is a thing in motion. importantsome analytical challenges involved in looking at the syrian opposition, armed and otherwise. i spent a long time doing intelligence analysis on the middle east and this was as formidable a problem as you can imagine. just to get your head around and understand the figure -- what is going on and so on. it is a big data problem.

just trying to look at that, the , and hasnformation major challenges in and of itself. -- manye multiple multiples of diverse sources, ranging from good to my reliable to totally unreliable and sources that are trying to push the situation in one way -- one direction or another. some dangerso involved in the analysis of this. i am as subject to these agers as anybody. there is a danger of getting too close -- up close and personal with the resistance. many of the leaders and people resistance,the individual resistance leaders are highly attractive characters , definitely interesting. they are doing real stuff. some of them are even romantic

centuryin the 19th sense of romantic figure. that is troublesome because that puts an impression on the forces orf the rebel can put it on. the second danger is being swept away in the tide's battle. this is something that i try and fight against, not always successfully. move rapidly and they often move and contradictory directions. when people lay down and say this is what is happening and this is the way it is going, you have to say ok, but they be not. you have to be very careful situationng that the is definitely headed in one direction. it will change. we have seen multiple changes in the course of the war over time.

and we will see more changes regardless of what the united states does. related to that there is a big problem with instant analysis. when something major happens in the course of the war, there is and aking to that event lot of emphasis put on a single event drives analysis for some time. current-- when i did intelligence at the pentagon, we used to see this amongst ourselves all the time. the present limbs large. .- looms large to put these into context is hard. paper, ituse for the is all open sources. there is lots of social media.

contactsnal media, with journalists, fieldwork, all those kinds of things underlie my conclusions. another important piece of the story here is in a sense on this you always need to do net assessment. you can never consider the rebels in isolation. you always have to think about them in terms of what kind of a challenge the regime forces are posing to them. seriousee, i think, a regime challenge. a greatme is not military force. it does not have great military forces. the syrian army is not a great army. irregular forces are not great forces. they proved to be good enough to keep the regime in power for over two years. in this work, the regime forces are not too

bad. they have certain advantages i think, over the rebels, persistent advantages, not just transient ones. the fundamental one is the continuing firepower regime forces have. firepower, artillery, missiles, air emma and now we see chemical. to regime has the ability deploy forces and coordinate their firepower. the regime is pretty effective better at it, amassing forces where they think it is important and operating them in an effective fashion. the single most important thing the regime has done in the war was to raise, organize, and train, and deployed large numbers of their regular forces. this is -- aspect of the regime's behavior has kept the regime in the war. committees,popular

the local militias, volunteers, and so on. the regime has been successful in generating large numbers, tens of thousands of these people and getting them to fight it or over time. not perfect it, but not too bad. ly, but not too bad. keykey aspect of -- two aspects of the battle in june was the entry into the battle by large numbers of hezbollah forces. they also were not world leaders. they had their own problems and issues. they did not prove to be elite soldiers, either, but there were a lot better than anything the regime had. what they provided was reliable light infantry that would and die inir orders trying do that. this is something that regime

regulars do not always show willingness to do. so the injection of hezbollah forces gave the regime the ability to fight effectively on the ground. they took a lot of losses. amongst these important regime challenges, i would say, is the will to win. counts for a lot. they are determined to persevere through the war. determined to do whatever it takes as we have seen again to win this war. not just to force it to a stalemate, not to go to geneva ii with an improved the medic position but to win on the battlefield. the current military situation? as basic factors that we see the increasingly sectarian

nature of the war. we have -- it has been talked about a great deal. the increasingly important for and involvement on both sides, actually. used by both sides with heavy ofpons to my increasing use heavy weapons by the rebels. the ability of science to sustain a relatively high level of combat. it is pretty impressive that the regime and rebels have been able to fight the way they have over the amount of time they have. increasing combat casualties on both sides. i will talk about this a little more. both sides are losing lots of people in the fighting. many more fighters are being killed and civilians. civilians are being killed and significant numbers but military casualties or higher. -- are higher.

another major characteristic of the conflict we see is there is still a lack of anything that remotely looks like decisive operations. the war is essentially a regional war. it is not a war of sweeping maneuvers, it is not a war that is conducted on an international basis. when i try to say how to analytically look at this animal, you have to have some kind of framework of analysis. there are lots of pieces to the rebel forces. i came up with 10 things we ought to think about. that is not a small number but it is more than a couple. a lot of the discussion, you hear about the rebels and their focus is on what kind of weapons they have got or whether they are moderates. currently 80% of the discussion of the armed opposition focuses on those kinds of things. maybe that is a generalization but anyway.

the first thing about the rebel nature,s what is their what is the sociology and .deology of these forces the rebels come from all elements of syrian society. they represent a huge spectrum ideologically. from moderates which are relatively hard to find all the way to jihadists. the second battle is factor i looked at. rebel forces fallen to the category of irregulars or guerrillas. they are not a standard form, well-organized force. the actual order of battle for the rebels i think remains a mystery. it is a mystery we have some inkling about and we can still

see some pieces of in order of battle, but we cannot discern the exact structure, organization, lay down of the rebel forces. it is for sure the rebel combat units number in the hundreds. if you believe some reports it could be in the thousands. they are a massive rebel units. maybe age in size from handful of people or a couple of handfuls of people to a few thousand people or maybe even somewhat larger so you have this very great spread of units. the rebel command and control is another difficult thing to figure out. see is multiple command type structures. in the paper i put command" because there are nine different command type structures that have been identified.

these vary from highly formalistic and broad command and control structures that may have little influence on the battlefield to very ad hoc and local type of command structures, controlling a relatively small number of forces. you have this very great variation on how the rebels are operating. here andpoint i think i alluded to this at the there is no that overall command structure. there is no group anywhere, including in the supreme military council that actually commands to forces that are doing the fighting inside syria. local anda bunch of regional groups who command forces but there is no national command. ath these rebels have significant. there has been a notion i think

and this is dying out now but there has been a notion for a long time that the rebels are these lightly armed guys with some kalashnikovs and general of his machine guns and some rpg's taking on this goliath in this. army. the little david's or mohammed's, they are getting heavy weapons and a lot of them. they operate tanks, field 's, andry, they have bmp it looks like they have antitank guided missiles. the number of those seems to be going -- growing. much of what they are using they have taken from government stocks. the guided missiles, it looks like those are coming in from outside but much of the heavy contributedt have to their effectiveness on the battlefield has come from the syrian army. you see this all the time on youtube where they have captured

significant numbers of weapons. logistics for the rectal -- the difficult. the rebels still have significant albums with ammunition supply. keeping weapons in the field, and so on. basically, logistics for the rebels are negotiated. operations are also negotiated. there is not a system that pushes ammunition or whatever to units. on any kind of rational or planned basis. the units that have ammunition are the units that have money, external support, and are successful in the battlefield. who do not have those things have much less ammunition. there are videos out there showing rebel commanders disturbing handfuls of bullets to their troops. that is not every unit but you still see

these problems where some rebel units sadly do not have ammunition and we still get reports of the rebels basically being defeated or having to withdraw from combat because they run out of ammunition. even units that you would think that should not happen with. important things in assessing any kind of military organization is the combat qualities of the forces. discipline, cohesion, willingness to fight, leadership , those kinds of things. sometimes these are called the unquantifiables. great variation in this. you have forces that are amateurs. they do not know how to use their weapons and so on. there is a significant issue withwith the rebels

significant variation in the combates of units and qualities of the units. what this does is it makes for very uneven performance on the battlefield. some rebel units unfortunately, these are mostly on the islamist side. this seems to have high combat quality. they fight hard. even in very difficult circumstances. rebelsategy for the simply does not exist. there is some broad notions ringing on the regime and having democracy and all that. strategy,f military in normal situations, you have political goals that are set by the political leadership and you have the military strategy that implements that. but because of the chaotic state of the political leadership, there is no real strategy, no political goals that can be communicated to forces and they

will then go out and execute. thisave -- again, you have every man does what he wants kind of situation. --hink it is important another major thing we see here is attrition. i talked about this a little bit. as of the end of july the last time i really crunched the data, the rebels were losing 32 killed in action per day. losing 32.me was the rebels were losing 52 killed in action today. regular forces. what we're seeing now is an increasing number of the national defense forces, these are the regime irregulars. increasing numbers of those people are being killed in combat. ofch is a logical extension their increasing role. the regime has lost according to

the rebels, a claim loss of 120 aircraft. ant is certainly exaggeration, but they continue to suffer attrition amongst the air force units and in particular, they have lost a lot of helicopters. of theicopter fleet regime has been significantly degraded. terms of armored vehicles, we see continued attrition of the regime's armored vehicle fleet. it had a huge armored vehicle fleet because they prepared for war with israel, but they are ntinuing -- continuously losing armored vehicles and p's, systems they rely heavily on. between march and july, over 600 were claimed to have been destroyed, damaged in combat, or at least hit. that is not a small number.

some vehicles can be put back into action if you are able to recover them, but that is a significant number. the bigclosing, challenge for the rebels and to some extent, they have met it over time, as they have to keep face with the regime or get ahead of it. behind the fall regime in a military sense. it looked in june like they were definitely doing that. more recently it looks like they studied them selves and are coming back. the the single greatest weakness is the disaster at the political echelon and the failure to have any kind of effect of overall real national military strategy. these are weaknesses that cannot be cured.