in 1971 and our mission is to provide information about the world's most dangerous weapon. we publish today. we are active here in washington on policy issues, and we work a great deal to try and encourage a diplomatic solution. host: he is taking your calls for the next 20 minutes or so, here on "washington journal." the republican line -- good morning. caller: good morning. mentionednew jersey earl -- i wasames why -- as ang

united states marine engine hear theserican to comments and to let them go by. host: we will be talking about martin luther king, jr. day and the civil rights issues in this country. we will be bringing you live pictures from the martin luther king, jr. memorial as we talk about his legacy in our last half-hour. i think the color is right. --se kinds of comments

>> that could be used to make the explosive devices. this is what they were expected of doing by the decade ago. the iaea had been investigating. that might be a prohibition that other nonnuclear weapon states can adopt. pakistan and india are nuclear arm neighbors. these two countries could, if

there's a conflict, possibly escalate that conflict to the nuclear realm. there are things that we can do with the united states now can do now that the iranians problem is reduced to advance efforts in other areas of the world. >> "new york times" today talking about the iranian nuclear deal. headline on their piece this morning, a paper world. thanks to the iran pack. the deal is a testament patient diplomacy and president obama's visionary determination to pursue a negotiated solution to the nuclear threat despite attempts by political opponents. you want to read more about the "new york times" opinion, that's in today's paper. we're also taking your calls here.

darryl kimball is with the arms association. tom is in winston, montana, line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, tom. caller: i was on that walk with martin luther king in selma. i like all events of this world to be divided between good and bad. it was a good walk. in high school, we were the rascals that kept the buses running from midwest into mississippi, alabama, louisiana and bring black kids to u.s. farms from memorial day to labor day. i want to say that all of this was goodness. host: tom in winston, montana. thomas is in texas.

caller: i want to know the difference between the iran deal and this deal. why did the u.n. inspector resign? thank you. guest: i'm not sure i understand the question. as many of you know the iran contra deal was something from some 35 years ago. that the reagan administration was involved in. this is far different arrangement having to do with iran's nuclear activity. there's one previous caller asked about that i wanted to come back to about the inspections that this agreement put in place. the agency can request a short notice inspection of any iranian site that they have concerns about. that doesn't mean that they can go in with no notice that doesn't mean that the iranians can't make some suggestion about where they can and cannot go.

because they have certain rights as a respected party. what's unique about this agreement, within 24 hours, the iranians have to respond to that access request. if there is a dispute about how and where the iaea wants to go. there's a dispute recognition called a joint commission that applies to everything within this agreement. this is unique. this is new. that joint commission is structured in a way that gives bit more power to the united states and our p5 plus one allies to make sure that the iranians comply. there's some novel aspects of this gives the energy agency much faster access than usual under these kinds of circumstances. that will keep the pressure on the iranians to cooperate going forward in the future. there will be tests of this

agreement including the first time and there will be some time down the road when the agency wants to see a facility that the iranians may have not declared as part of their nuclear program. host: what are your thoughts of the events last week of the iranians obtaining those ten sailors. do you think that should have been taken into consideration before the lifting of sanctions? guest: it's fabulous to see these dual -- these americans released from iran. tremendous release. it's a testament to the hard work and diplomacy that the united states was engaged in all the while the nuclear negotiations were going on. even though there wasn't a direct relationship, i think the opening, the diplomatic eopening that the nuclear negotiation provided created some channels

to communications and good will between the united states and the iranian government under president rahani. just yesterday the president announced that there were some designations on iranian entities involved in ballistic missile procurement. it's important to remember that this negotiation on iran's nuclear program led to a nuclear deal. both sides are very careful not to allow other issues to come into the equation. in part because they made it far too complex and far too burdensome in order to resolve the core nuclear issue. iran has had that program for some time. they have arranged ballistic

missiles. united states and the rest of the communities was concerned that those missiles could be used if iran had a nuclear program to deliver nuclear warheads. it will be far dangerous with a nuclear warhead. there have been sanctions in place for some time to make sure that the iranians can't advance that program. the sanctions that the president announced yesterday applied to those ballistic missile activities and trade that might occur between iran and north korea. one of the designations yesterday related to iranian company that had individuals that had been to north korea apparently to help the north korean government with the program. there are going to be disputes and more sanctions outside of the nuclear realm that take place over the next several years.

we're going to have to pursue comprehensive approach to deal with the ballistic missile challenge in the middle east that iran poses and other countries in the region pose. everything i don't think could have been solved with the nuclear deal. it's far too much to expect and it could have made the conclusion of the negotiation impossible. host: indiana is up next. walter is waiting for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i do appreciate it. sir, i'm totally befuddled when i hear proponents say it's a good deal and it will stop the iranians for x amount of time. i refer back to thinking about how they try to appease the germans. when you have a country that according to the united states is a state sponsor of terror,

when the leaders of iran after the deal is signed, say that the great satan that zion government of the united states, death to america, when they take -- when they shoot ballistic missiles and fall within 1500 yards of our ships. when they capture our navy men and make them kneel in a position. we give them $150 billion to a state that continue to do terrorist activities. i refer back to the weak-minded liberal democrats that try to appease and try to make everything nice. what we've done, we've legitimatized this terroristic country. what i want to know it is, if

you have a president that makes a deal. they say the americans made the deal. i don't understand. i don't remember the congress, senate or the house of representatives or anybody in this country having anything to do with it except for these pinheads like john kerry. saying we'll make a great deal and snap back inspections. what do the iranian government have to do for the united states to say we're not going to take this? i'm just left with that. i wish you a pleasant day and god bless you. guest: well, the iranian government is very unpleasant. we got a lot of problems with iranians on a lot of fronts. we had a problem. we still have a problem. from my perspective, caller mentioned a lot of the issues we have with the iranian government. lot of problems. i think we're in a far better

position with iran. not having -- engaging in those behaviors and having the possibility of nuclear weapon. the united states has historically negotiated with countries that got disagreements with. john f. kennedy did it, ronald reagan did it with the soviets. i think george w. bush administration started talks with iran. several years ago before the obama administration continued. i think in the end, we have an outcome that is clear in our interest because iran's program is set back. we should not trust them. this deal was not set up in such a way as to believe everything they say. it is a distrust and verify rangement. as i was saying before, we've gotten much better tools in place. to make sure that the iranians are not trying to get around the

restrictions. there are a lot of characters in the world and sometimes in diplomacy, you have to confront them and deal with them and come up with solutions that are not perfect but meet our bottom line security goal. host: darryl kimball with the arms control association. we have about 10 minutes left in this segment. mark in chantilly, virginia line is up for democrats. caller: good morning. i want to agree with your guest and with some of the more rational callers who called in this morning. this is a good deal. is it perfect? of course not. no international agreement is perfect. you don't always get everything that you want. it's not the way the world works. but the world today is safer than it was before this deal. people who think otherwise are thinking with their guts and not with their heads. what's the alternative?

go to war with iran to keep them from developing nuclear weapons? no, that's not an option. people need to reasonable that this is the way that negotiations worked. it's a good thing. thank you. guest: that captures my sentiments. good way of putting it. we had challenges ahead with this agreement. i wanted to mention a couple before we run out of time. i think people need to be looking at. one is that the congress going to be taking a look at whether to pass the iran sanctions act which is key legislation that help put a lot of pressure on iran. it will bring it to the negotiating table. they're thinking about doing that in order to give the president the ability if iran violates this agreement to snap back sanctions faster. there are those who think that

will be useful. there are those that think that could invite a response from iran. that's one issue that the congress is going to be debating. that's a test. the other test for this agreement is going to be when the iaea goes in to take a look at a site that the iranians would rather they not look at. how will the iranians respond. how will the united states and allies respond. that will be a test that may not come in the coming year. i think that test is going to come. in addition, we need to make sure that the iaea has the tools necessary to do the job. they will be putting in about 150 people in iran. they've got a lot of equipment that they have to maintain and operate that's going to cost money. the united states is a major donor to the iaea. we need to sustain that commitment. they're using a lot of the

technology that -- this deal is not done. there are many years to go. there are many tests that will take place. host: david is on our line from michigan for the democrats. good morning. caller: you wanted to correct two callers ago, that $1.5 billion is not our money. that is not u.s. taxpayer money. that was iranian money that was frozen -- i don't know how long ago. that was iranian money that was frozen. now they have complied, we are releasing their money back to them. also, those two boats, they were in iranian water. any country on earth has the right to intercept a ship that is in their water and question the crew. our country would have done the same thing. they were in iranian waters.

these people on the right will lead us to world war iii. host: david in clinton township. steve on twitter. wants to know when the iranian deal will be transformed into the iranian treaty? guest: well, i think the question mike referred to is many on the capitol hill want this agreement to be submitted to congress in the form of a treaty. a binding agreement. it will not. it was not. this was a formally called executive agreement. it was negotiated by the permanent members of the security council with iran to make sure that iran met its u.n. security council requirement. but the congress did have a vote on this agreement. they did have the opportunity to

vote up or down under legislation that was put forward by senator bob corker. they did not muster the sufficient number of votes to stop the agreement. i think one of the things that we all need to think about at this state, now there has been debate in congress about this. the deal is implemented. what can and should the next president do? there's some on the campaign trail who are saying, i will rip up this agreement. i think we got to think about what that means. whether that's feasible, whether that's a good idea now that the severe restrictions iran's program are in place. what would you put in place instead of the iran nuclear agreement? i think we're passed the stage where we can and should debate

whether we should go forward. now i think it's the question what's the best way to implement this. how can we build upon it? what else do we need to do to deal with iran's behavior in the region. how do we develop better diplomatic to deal with problems like the prisoners swap that we saw. host: couple of minutes left. ann is in alabama, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: turn down your tv and go ahead with your question. caller: okay. i was calling -- the iran deal is -- the iran deal is just a -- it's just leading up to the

global domination of the west. hillary and bill are members of the p.l.o. i want you to read the book, "israel, america's key to survival." this will open america's eyes to what's going on with the immigration deal and the iran deal. it's just the beginning. host: ann in coleman, alabama. you want to talk about that? what happens 10 or 15 years from now. some concern that a nuclear iran is a sure because of this deal. what are your thoughts? guest: 10 or 15 years down the road is not assured. iran capacity to produce highly iranians nuclear weapons is severely constrained.

they're only going to have 5 third down -- they can conduct limited research on more advanced machines. they can't enrich beyond the 3.67 level, which is normal reactor grade. there's going to be for 15 years, there are severe limits on their work on fuel reprocessing which you need for separation to make nuclear weapon. there's going to be this iaea monitoring and iranian mining sites for 20 or 25 years. i know the other inspections beyond that. it's going to be very tough for iran before 15 years to expand their program again. one of the key things it's going to be will the russians and other countries continue to supply, as they will be in the near term, iran with nuclear

fuel that iran need for its legitimate nuclear energy production. if they have those fuel supply arrangements, there is no need for iran to increase its iranian enrichment capacity. there are things we can be doing to head off iran's rationale and technical need to increase capacity. we need to be looing at ways we can keep them in the box by on the nuclear issue. making sure that other countries in the region are part of the nuclear system and the conference in nuclear -- you need to develop nuclear warheads. there are several things we need to be thinking about as we look down the road.

host: darryl kimball. appreciate your time. >> for this year's documentary contest, students are telling us the issues they want the presidential candidates to discuss. we're hearing about the students as they produce their videos. here's a tweet from andrew eighth grade teacher. recording student cam intros at the white house. virginia congressman goodlat tweeted help -- good luck. students from lakeside high school in hot springs, arizona tweeted, more of our day at the capitol. thanks again arizona state representative john bine. todd, social studies teacher, interviewing, j. valentine 25. there's $100,000 in prizes,

grand prize of $5000. the winners will be announced march 9th. for more information, visit our website, studentcam.org. >> tonight on the communicators. republican s.e.c. commissioner pie discusses key topics being considered by the fcc. mr. pie is being joined by brian. >> broad band is one of the key drivers in job creation and economic growth. one of the things i find striking, everywhere from sioux fallses and montana, i seen people using that broad band connection to women businesses. because of that connection, they're now able to innovate.

>> watch the communicators, tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. attorney general loretta lynch spoke today at the national action network breakfast commemorating martin luther king day. others was former attorney general eric holder. this is two hours. >> where's the love? happy king day. come on now. remember we used to have to sneak to have a king day because it wasn't really official so you can speak and not show up so the next day you go to work. where were you yesterday,

knowing you took the day off. happy king day. it's my pleasure to bring up reverend al sharpton. i like to take a note of personal privilege. tomorrow is not promised. for me it was almost not promised because i was almost not here today. i had a very event last year that almost took my life. i had one call to make. i called reverend al sharpton who prayed for me. i want you to know, all of that paralysis, they said get ready because you might not survive, i want you to know that healing that you gave me, thank you so much for the prayer that you gave. this man looked

>> black unemployment is still high. questions of policing and profiling is still before us. economic challenges are still before us. we still must face those challenges. that is why national action network and others must stay on the forefront of raising these issues. it's not enough to remember dr. king and not really try and bring about what dr. king's policies were all about.

when i looked over the last 18 months, from erik garner and ferguson. i want some of the young people, we're not about headlines and flashing but about working and sacrifice to be with us. they're my special guest this morning. brandy and shanay stand up, from ferguson, missouri. reverend carlton lee stand up. many of our board members and others that are here. reverend michael wallwon who is the pastor at the first corinthians baptist church. the largest growing church in the country. certainly in new york. he's with us. the dean of the civil rights

movement, they called civil rights establishment. somebody said to me, i was in civil rights establishment. i said i've been fighting getting civil rights establishment all my life. i remember i wasn't established. wade henderson is with us, the wade henderson is with us, the joe is with us. where is joe. the queen of our movement who has done so much for civil rights and gender equality, melanie campbell of the national coalition. we want to also -- i know they gave the blessing, but there's

no one more legendary and more in my judgment, more proficient in the ministry who served for decades and who worked shoulder to shoulder with my pastor who mentored me in civil rights. give another hand to reverend hicks. at this hour, we face a challenge. in front of this supreme court, a court that took out section 4 of the voting rights act. a court that is now deliberating on official case that could undermine affirmative action. a court that is looking at the case that could undermine labor. we are celebrating king day but

we're not celebratory of these times. the wrong decisions from this court and the wrong president to succeed president obama giving further cease to those that want to turn back the clock. could eradicate all that dr. king and the king era established. we are at risk today but we also here to put them on notice that we are not going to let them go into the america that dr. king and fanny lou and the foot soldiers from the 1960's brought us from. you can turn back the block but you cannot turn back time. we are not going back to a divided hateful america. we fought too hard and battled too long. just because barack obama is

leaving the white house, does not mean we're going to let you change the american house of justice and fairness. we will keep marching and we're going to keep working from the streets to the suite to preserve dr. king's dream. that's what we're here to say. [applause] i bring our keynote speaker. i'm moving fast. i know that most times at breakfasts you eat and then hear cities. we're marching in holland this afternoon. you can eat quietly. use the right fork. slip your coffee quietly. we're going to move through the program because there are others that will be doing your day of

service because dr. king was about service. dr. king was not about profiling. he was about service. we want to bring our keynote speaker on. we'll hear from the secretary of education and we're honored to have both of them with us this morning and we're going to present awards to those that we have felt have operated in their fear in the tradition of dr. king. the lady that i'm about to present has personified with dr. she's the daughter of a minister who excelled in her education and went into law, law enforcement community of criminal justice community but never left a commitment for justice. i remember her when we faced the

case in new york. i remember her as she had to make tough decisions sometimes that the community liked, sometimes they didn't like. but we always found out that she was fair and just. we don't expect people to get in high places and become like others that distorted it. but doing what is popular. we expect them to do what is right. even if it's unpopular with us. she had the courage and to nasty to enforce the law. those of us who knew her i york. that the president would have

her be one of our major honorees this morning. she is a woman that if my two daughters could grow to be part of what she is, i would be proud. because she has represented our community and our nation well. children unborn will read the story of this preacher's daughter that became the first black woman to be the attorney general of the united states at a time that these states needed someone sitting in the seat that robert kennedy and others sat. with the balance and the courage to do what the times and the law called for. may we hear from the attorney general of the united states, the honorable loretta lynch. [applause]

>> thank you all for that warm welcome. thank you all for making it out this morning. thank you reverend sharpton for inviting me to spend a few minutes with you all today before we get back to work. love to see you reverend hicks as well. so honored to be with you. reverend sharpton thank you so much for your work over the years. you're rights, i have known you since my time as an early young prosecutor. you were always bringing justice in the streets of new york and now to the nation. we're so grateful for your guidance and for the group and everything that you contributed to, you've been partners in this struggle for years. i know that it will continue. you've been focusing on the

right to vote but more than that, you've expanded the notion of the civil rights movement as dr. king was expanding it. but access to education, to employment. to focus on nonviolence. i'm also so delightedded to be here with my colleague john king. so happy he's in the chair of secretary of education. i'm the daughter of a minister. i'm also the granddaughter and the great granddaughter of a minister. i'm also the daughter of a teacher and a librarian. those two forces will lead our country out of the darkness we are seeing today and ultimately save us. i'm so glad in john is here as well. i'm so happy to see my predecessor, my mentor and friend, attorney general eric holder. my friend. i also want to thank reverend

sharpton for bringing his board members along as well. i want to thank all of you for being here today. we're here as we are every year. on this day to pause fora moment and reflect on the contributions and the extraordinary sacrifices of a transformational leader. we know his story, of course. a young minister from a remarkably young age, he was unwaivering champion of liberty and opportunity. he spoke out for people who had been silenced. he stood up for those who were oppressed. you know as we celebrate dr. king's legacy, sometimes in the way that we speak, he become sort of of a static figure. he seems to be frozen in amber at a particular moment of time. when the reality is, what he is

best known for and what he best achieved was through his actions. he was a man of action. he took action over and over again in the face of violence, in the face of adversity. he went to jail for his actions and wrote one of the greatest tracks that we have seen since the letters of paul to the corinthians. i refer to the letter from the birmingham jail. his words and deeds, his actions were with with the conscious of a nation. that long failed to deliver on the promises that were set forth in astounding documents. of course he's known for his words. he termed the days in which he was living the long night of racial injustice. it was. he and countless brave men and women and children worked so hard. they took action against jim crow. they took action to tear down the barriers to the ballot box

in doing so, they enshrined new protections of freedom and dignity in law. of course the voting rights act and the civil rights act of 1964 and 1965. i'm proud to uphold today. these were extraordinary achievements and it's right that we celebrate them today. even more than celebrating, even more than remembering his words, even more than enshrining his accomplishments, it is fitting that we act. that is what we are called upon to do today. dr. king knew that complacency and advocacy was dangerous to the mind as a billy club or a fire house was to the body. he spoke of this sow well that progress was not inevitable. but belonged to those who were willing to seize the moment. as he stated so eloquently in

that famous lettered -- letter, he knew that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. his words and his deeds and those of the millions who stood with him, not just history but their timeless calls to action. they are as fresh and real today as they were in those times. the strategies that he worked on are the strategies that are effective today. we need call upon to push that mission forward. dr. king's call and his mission has animated the department of justice since the inception of this administration. it fueled our ongoing work to ensure that everyone in this country can achieve the full blessings of american life. our revitalized civil rights division, the conscious of the department. led by our standing head, vanita, is committed to ensuring that access to the ballot box is

a fair as dr. king dreamed it would be. whatever the franchise is being diminished, whether through historical barriers or newly erected ones, we stand prepared to use every tool at our disposal to protect the sacred american right to vote. the civil rights division is making significant progress. [applause] but more must be done and more will be done. we're also making progress and bringing criminals simple rights cases as well over the course of this administration. i am proud to say that we have filed more criminal civil rights cases and prosecuted and convicted more defendants for hate crime charges than any other time in the justice department history. [applause] but we also know that we cannot

just look outward. we know that we have to protect our civil rights within the criminal justice system, those of us in the department seek to serve. in part, we're doing this by strengthening the relationship between law enforcement and the communities that swerve. we're also focusing on ensuring constitutional policing across the country. we've launched a variety of new programs and innovative efforts at the local level and national level, including my own city listening tours to promote community policing. it build the relationships of trust. but more broadly and most importantly, we're working because we have to ensure the fundamental fairness of the criminal justice system at every level. at the federal level, we're

continuing to implement the smart on crime initiative, a bold approach begun by my predecessor in 2013. the smart on crime initiative is not only a bipartisan rallying point, after nine months in washington, i found maybe a few things that seem to inspire bipartisan connection, but it's also been a resounding success with federal prosecutors using their resources to bring the most serious wrongdoers to justice but also focusing on ways to handle those nonviolent defenders far beyond what is necessary. not only is the incarceration rate going down, so is the crime rate. this is the leadership of my predecessor. it is one that serves our country. it serves our values and it

serves our children. but for fairness and justice to be consistent and to have meaning, we have to look at every stage of our criminal justice process. that is why we're also working to end the school to prison pipeline that sent so many of our children out of school and into the criminal justice system. [applause] we have brought cases. we're working with school departments across the country to end zero tolerance policies to review the use of school safety. to make sure that all children but especially our children on whom those policies fall most harshly have a chance. a chance to get an education and not a number. a chance to become someone and not a statistic. a chance to be heard and not become to those we try and ignore as they go through our criminal justice system. we're also investing in

diversion programs, treatment program, looking at evidence-based approaches to public health and criminal justice. if we can focus on the root causes why so many of our brothers and sisters take those missteps and lose their way and find themselves caught up as my grandfather used to say, in the clutches of the law. we can save not only them, we can save families. we can save not only families, we can save communities. we can save not only communities, we can save our nation. that's we can do, that's what we will do. that's what we must do. [applause] there's more than one level there as well. we're focusing on those trying to prevent people from going into the system also working on making sure that our prison systems are run fairly, efficiently, looing at things like solitary confinement.

we're also focusing on reentry programs, making sure that our formally incarcerated individuals, our formally incarcerated family members we're all affected by this, have the tools and the resources that they need to successfully rejoin society and contribute to their community. there's statistic say, 600,000 people coming out of prison. people look at that as a number. those are mothers and fathers. those are brothers and sisters. those are siblings and friends. that is human capital. that is a resource that is invested in our economy wisely. to pull many of our communities out of the poverty in which we find themselves mired in. we have an obligation to give them the tools to contribute to that effort. [applause]

i'm so honored to be here with secretary king, at the department of justice recently partnered with the department of education to extend pell grant support to incarcerated individuals. giving them a ramp to education where educational institutions will go into our incarcerated institutions and offer college courses. i was privileged to visit one of these programs in the baltimore area and talk to some inmates going to the program and watch them. sit in on a political science class. of course, the grasp of nuance and grasp of political theory, frankly it's high as anything you need to see. supporting those efforts. getting the brill yens --

brilliance trapped behind bars. it's what we have to do. i thank you for your efforts. this is vital work. it's really life-changing work. it's life-altering work. as we all know all too welshing we still have -- too well, we still have a long way to go. we hear concerns so strikingly similar to the early days of the civil rights movement. as i travel this great nation of yours, i speak to people who are afraid to turn to law enforcement for help. they find themselves stranded between fear and violence. i hear from people who see the right to vote, the fundamental way in which we determine our destiny, they see the right to vote becoming some sort of a shell game and held just out of reach. i hear from people, i hear from those who worry that a country founded on the freedom of all religion, may deinvolve into one

diminished by fear. i hear the question asked over and over again, how far in fact, have we actually come? these are good questions and they are the questions of our time. these are difficult times. my friends, these issues have always been difficult. they've always been hard. we have always had to move forward with no guarantees of success. we've always faced resis resist. that is the human condition. maybe it's the american condition as well. we have prevailed before and we will prevail again. [applause] because my friends, it is the challenge of every generation. to learn this lesson, to follow this path to keep the dream alive every generation faces the challenge. every generation faces the uncertainty, the fear of the

unknown. every generation has to learn that the price of freedom is constant vigilance. sometimes it has to be paid in blood. that's why it's so fitting. on a day dedicated to justice, to equal opportunity. a day dedicated to action were gathered by national action network. because progress never passes. progress does not simply arrive. it doesn't just come because we wish for things to get better. because in this extraordinary nation that still has so much to offer to all of us. a nation created by and for the people. progress. progress is the product of a steady drum beat of marching feet. it's the result of a sustained campaign through hardship and oppression. as our president, president obama said, in his final state

of the union address, progress is not inevitable, it is the result of choices we make together. now the time when nothing, nothing about their success seem ordained, the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement chose to keep going. after each night in jail, they chose to press on. after each billy club, police dog or fire hose, they chose to get up and keep going. after each church bombing, after each church bombing. dr. king and his followers confronted their doubt, they faced their fears and they chose to march on. rosa parks chose to take a seat on that bus. others chose to take that first step on to the edmund pettus

bridge they chose to step forward. no matter how tired or bloodied they were. the men and women and the children of the civil rights movement summoned their courage, they leaned on their faith and they chose to take that next step. even without knowing what lay ahead. so, my friends, as we come here today to celebrate the life of dr. king as we seek to apply his lessons to the challenges that we face today, here's the question. facing all of us. what will we choose? when we witnessed discrimination against others what will we choose? when we see the right to vote rolled back, what will we choose? when we hear voices saying, we

should be satisfied, you come so far, look how much you achieved, look who's in the white house, when you hear people telling us that it's time to stop, what will we choose? will we choose to remain silent? will we choose to stand aside and quietly acquiesce? will we choose to keep this country marching towards freedom. will we choose to speak up and to stand out against the voices of bigotry and prejudice? will we choose love over hate? will we choose open over despair? what will we choose? my friends as i stand before you now, i commit to you as the attorney general of these united states, that this department of justice will always choose to

act. we choose to act. [applause] we choose to act to ensure that the promise of america, the equality and the opportunity that is america is within the grasp of all americans. we choose to act. we choose to act to lift up the humanity and the dignity and the equal rights of every american regardless of what they look like, where they come from, whom they love or the god that they choose to worship. we choose to act. we choose to act to use the law to push us forward. not because the law is perfect, because it pushes us towards our better self-s. -- selfs. we choose to act on behalf of those who has been left out and left behind. it doesn't mean that the road

ahead will be easy for any of us. i wish that i could, as i talk to people across this country and hear about the struggles and the fear, i wish i could bring tolerance to every soul and humanity to every heart. while i cannot guarantee the act of prejudice, i can guarantees the presence of justice. i do so. [applause] despite all the questions and despite the concerns that i hear, i travel this beautiful country of ours, i still remain optimistic about everything that we achieve. everything that we can do together. despite the pain, despite the troubles and the things that we see on the nightly news every night. i have two reasons why i am so optimistic. first, despite the pain, despite

the agony that we see, played out on the daily news, captured in the cell phone videos of 100-foot soldiers of justice. we have opened the conversation about the pain that goes on in this country that has been larger than we have ever had before. we are at that point. dr. king knew that what we had to do was push forward to make our case known to everyone in this society and become part of the dialogue of this society. i'm also optimistic because i see so many young people fighting this fight. i see so many young people leading this charge. as they did 50 years ago, with energy, with different ideas, pushing all of us forward. keeping all of us on our toes. that's what they do. impatient, they should be. eager, they are. energetic, i thank god for that.

that's where we were 50 years ago. all of those voices came together. all the different thoughts how to accomplish so many of the things that we've done today. we do face challenging times. we're at a crossroads. we have choices to make. but we have the strength of our history. we have the faith of our fathers and we have the energy of our future. call -- all coming together to prepare us like no other moment in time to seize this opportunity and to choose to act. my friends, choose to act. choose love over hate. choose hope over despair, choose peace over violence. most of all, choose to continue to fight for essential equality and dignity and beauty of every human being. i thank you so much for giving me a few minutes to talk to you today. i thank you so much for carrying on this fight.

[applause] >> i told you all she's a preacher's daughter. give her a hand. attorney general loretta lynch. [applause] after that, i've attempted to raise a offering. that wouldn't be appropriate. i thought as she was speaking about when i was 18, i was youth director for a lady's campaign for president named shirley chism. i thought about we have a young lady in the national action

network. one thing i try to do is encourage and bring and give leadership, platforms to the leaders of generations behind me as those like reverend hicks and others have did for me. i'm proud that our youth leader, nationally, who form chapters all over the countries with us today. she's 17 years old. she's the president of the freshman class at spellman as she leads the youth from our atlanta office, mary pat. where is mary pat? [applause] mary pat, now, i want mary pat, i want you to go right there where i was sitting. i want you to take a picture between the two black attorney generals in history of the country. you can show this to your

grandchildren. that's what this is all about. as i said, she's president of the freshman class at spellman. we're going to make her stay in school with her activism. i got active and dropped out of college. that's when i got on msnbc, he to learn how to read the cue cards right. you stay in spellman so you can read your cards right. they won't be -- eric holder will be laughing about you. i want to thank our "washington bureau" chief who done such a great job. i'm so proud of ebony riley. give her a hand. our legislative chief, faith

blackburn. to show young women of our community is not just men. one of the things that president obama has done among many, he's been the best president that i've seen. [applause] he has also elevated young men. now heading the my brother's keeper alliance who was in office of engagement in the white house. strong young sister that the whole world will know because she has done such a wonderful job. i see her in the audience. stand up. give a big hand. is stephanie here? stephanie young who's in the white house now in the office of

engagement, another young black female leader who's daughter of a preacher. stand up stephanie young from the white house. all right, thank you. i want to before bring on the secretary of education, start with our first three awards. reverend j. david cot will help me present the last three. i think it is important that we honor first a lady that symbolizes and stands for what the attorney general spoke to. last year, when there was a video police shooting in north charleston, reverend nelson rivers called me and told me what happened that night. i flew down and preached to the

church that sunday. trudy, who is here, had the mayor of north charleston and police chief come. they immediately took action on that video tape. we went to the scene of the shooting and a minister led us in prayer. two months later, reverend nelson called me and said that minister was conducting bible class in his church. that very same minister had been shot and killed along with eight of his members in the middle of bible class. a man young, he sat there and prayed with them an hour. hate made him kill. as we headed to charleston and saw the funeral.

i went to several of them and spoke at some. then the president came to the funeral of that minister and sung amazing grace, it was not the president singing amazing grace, it was the families of the charleston nine that showed amazing grace to this country. which showed what reverend pinckney was teaching that not was what they believed. it was our grace, our grace despite the pain, our grace even in the face of murder that brought us from the back of the bus to the front of the white house. it's that grace even in painful times like this that will keep us going. dr. king was a man of faith. he was a man of grace. he was a preacher first. you can't celebrate dr. king's

day and divorce him from what he stood for. we wanted to honor today the widow of reverend clement pinckney. because her and her members showed this nation our community and our country at its best. showing that even through our tears, our faith remains steady. even through our pain, our steps will keep moving forward. we refuse to become part of the hate that we fight. we refuse to succumb to those that see us less than what god made us to be. we honor jennifer pinckney who became the bride of reverend pinckney in 1993. now mrs. pinckney raises his children and leads on everyday

of her life. they're in the pain of a soul mate gone but having the knowledge that she and others must continue to personify what he stood for or his living and teaching would be in vain. may you help me in honoring the legacy memory of reverend clemente pinckney as we honor his wife, jennifer pinckney. [applause] this is also reverend pinckney's sister. if you saw reverend pinckney, you're looking at him now. give them both a big hand.

>> the honorable reverend clementec. pinckney. he lived a life like the dr. martin luther king jr. he was a preacher. he was a teacher. he was about service, peace and taking action. he was a voice for the

voiceless. he believed in seniors getting affordable healthcare. before his untimely death, he was working with an organization and that was trying to develop a mobile health unit. he -- his area was a rural area. it was a large area. now they're trying to work with me so they can raise the $250,000 to actually get this mobile unit into action. he believed in public education. there was never an issue when our daughters were born where they were going to go to school. they going to public school. i went to public schools, i was in a poor district, a poor

school but look at me. that's what he would say. i'm a product of public schools and our daughters will be a product of public schools. another issue that he was working on before his untimely death, body cameras. policemen to have body cameras at all times. these are just a few of the issues and things that my husband worked on and believed. a lot of people knew him as senator. lot of people knew him as reverend. family members like his sister, called him clem.

but he was my taye. i called him taye. before we were married, he was taye. all of my friends thought of calling him taye. on the -- on behalf of myself and our two beautiful daughters, ages 6 and 11, we want to thank you for this prestigious award. taye was a spiritual man. i know he would say that he wasn't deserving of any type of award. but since this has happened, the family has been very grateful for the love and support that we

have received. the community, our state and our country. many people all over the world have prayed for us and pressed their love in so many different ways. we're blessed for the service of my husband. he loved his work as a senator. he loved his work as a pastor. i am committed and it is my hope to continue his work and all of the issues that he stood for. that's why i created a foundation in his name. want to make him proud.

he always said i got to do for my girls. we were his girls. because he lost -- they lost their mom, my mother-in-law at a young age, about 15 years ago, he adopted my mom, my mom became his mom. instead of him having three girls, he had four. i got to take care of my four girls. i leave you with this, i missed taye. the girls miss their father. on that faithful day, he was at

work in the senate. he knew he had to drive two hours to charleston to be a pastor. i said, i'll go with you. i'll go with you so that i can help you drive and you can relax and do the things that you need to do to make phone calls. i'll go with you. at first, he was like, no you stay home. but for some reason, i wouldn't let it go. i kept texting him. i'll go with you. so he finally gave in and he said, i'll be there to pick you up 2:00.

be ready. i have to get to church. i told our 6-year-old, i'm going to church with daddy. of course she says, i'm going with you. i told our 11-year-old, i'm going to church with daddy, your sister is going with us. well i'm going to stay home with grandma. he told milana on the trip to charleston, baby girl, when i'm finished, i'm going to take you to mcdonalds. unfortunately, we never made it to mcdonalds.

unfortunately, my husband never came back home. continue to pray for the victim families. continue to pray for my family. continue to pray for the survivors, the five survivors and out of the five, i was ones of them. and so was our 6-year-old daughter, milana. i have work to do because i'm going to my taye proud. i'm going to continue to honor

his legacy and go forward with his dream. live your life like taye lived his, an honorable man. a loving man. going to continue to carry out his work. that's what he would want. thank you once again. thank you for this award. may god bless each and every one of you. [applause]

>> give another hand. ms. jennifer pinckney. attorney general talked about the foot soldiers. i often thought coming up what

would make them facing biting dogs and facing jail cells sing "we shall overcome." maybe they had a belief they looked in the future. that their sons and daughters would vindicate their sacrifice. as we honor people like robert smith, who has become the most successful person in this industry as we honor neighbor leaders. i think our parents, grandparents that sung in those dangerous days, looked and saw a young lawyer that would remain grounded even in heady times and withstand for justice that they

never saw. they had to dream and imagine something that became physically manifested in our times in the body of eric holder. who went to the justice department, grounded and firm and who and what this country was supposed to stand for. and despite being castigated and criticized, that we shall overcome theme, never left his spirit and soul. when you're the children of those that took dog bites and church bombings and vicious murders, it would take more than some partisan members of the senate to turn you around. we honor him today by showing

that from good trees come good fruit. like a heather foster who i admire. he not only went to the top of the justice department but he brought others with him who have now spread out themselves. one that worked with him in justice was a strong young attorney justice firm, named tony west. who left justice and is now executive vice president of government affairs. he brought the same spirit with him to show the continuity and to show the fruit from his tree. i have said that i wanted to step back and have his own brother, his own -- one of his own coworkers. one the fruits from his tree,

tony west present eric holder with the award this morning. tony west. [applause] >> thank you reverend. if i can take a minute and just say to you mrs. pinckney, this weekend, attorney general holder and i were in south carolina. yesterday we had the great pleasure and privilege and honor to attend services at mother emmanuel. when reverend sharpton talks about the amazing grace that your church family shows, in a moment when they were still grieving, the love and the welcoming arms that they

extended to us and to the other guests who were there yesterday, not only enriched us, it uplifted us. your preference today enriches us and uplifts us. so thank you very much. [applause] i know the hour is getting late i'm going to be very brief. my breath should not be taken as any indication of short trip for our honoree. you know him well. cliche to say a person needs no introduction. he truly needs to introduction in this crowd. we know him as a man with roots, man who is the son of immigrants who has justice as his north star. a man not only the nation's first african-american attorney general but someone who used the power and authority.

stand up for the least of us, to make his voice heard to work with many of you to defend voting rights when 3r when theye under attack. someone who used the power of his office to reform the criminal justice system that is too often defined by race and class. someone who fought for the equality of all americans regardless of who they worship or who they are or who they love. this is someone who certainly needs no introductions. i know him as my d.o.j. leader, as my boss but even more important in more enduring as my mentor and my friend. it is an honor to present to you the 82nd attorney general of the united states, eric h. holder. [applause]

>> good morning. it is a pleasure to be here. i want to thank the national action network for recognizing me with this great award. i want to thank tony for those brief remarks. we came up together on his plane. this is where tony is now. he's got his plane. he was banging away on his computer, for much longer and nicer introduction. what's that all about? i was helping him with it actually. obviously i want to thank

reverend sharpton for heading a great organization that has really stood at the forefront with the progress that we have made over the recent years. ms. pinckney, i want to say a special word and appreciation to you. i know that through you, you feel it. your husband's work will go on. you're going to be a major force on your own. [applause] loretta lynch, great attorney general. a good friend who is on her own, crafting her own path for justice at the united states department of justice. wade henderson, my man. when things got rough, when things were tossed at me, that was a phone call to make.

he mobilized the troops and i could not have gotten through all the stuff i had to get through without you. we're going to miss you. altitude your position will change, your commitment to the cause will always remain. we thank you for all that you have done and all that you continue to do. as tony said, we were at mother emmanuel this weekend. one of the things that reverend dob said. he talked about the sermon, the time is now. we have made progress but our journey is clearly not yet complete. we can't be complacent. we can't be satisfied. there are new challenges that we have to face that have roots in some of the old things that our

predecessors had to confront. 1960's we fought for voting rights. and the passage of the 1965 voting rights acts. yet here we are in 2016, still talking about voting rights. criminal justice reform, something that has been needed in this country for decades, if not centuries. talked about it before, it is still something that we must confront. we see in this presidential year i think a really disturbing recurrence of things i thought we had put in the past. hateful language around issues of ethnicity, race and religion. there are too many people led by donald trump. taking one of our story parties

in a direction that i think is inconsistent with the great legacy of that party. after all the party of abraham lincoln. would lincoln look at the things they are saying as a race to the bottom and think that is in some ways consistent with what he did for that party and for our nation? i hope that at some point sanity will raise its wonderful head and people will see the wrong way in which the party is now going. there are new forms of old issues. we have to recognize that. what we have to do is come up with new solutions to deal with these new problems. national action network is consistently been at the forefront of crafting 21st century solutions for these 21st century problems.

led by person who is been a supporter of mine. and a person who is a personal friend. we need the same commitment. we need the same courage. we need the same perseverance as martin luther king. people say to me, how do you deal with all the stuff that you have deal with in those congressional committees. i say to myself, nobody hit me over the head with billy club, and nobody giving me death threats. to sit up there and listen to -- charitable here -- listening to some folks with whom i disagreed and get yelled at, i'll tell you the words i really wanted to use -- like really, is that the best you got? i grew up in new york city. really? you can do better than that. we also have to understand, the positive change is not a given.

positive change is a function of hard work. that is what the people in this ram i know are committed to and that is what i know loretta is doing at the united states department of justice. the status quo will always resist change. always has always will. i think about these young people, i will say kids. the black lives movement. they disrupt. they annoy. they get in the way. guess what, that's how progress is made in this country. [applause] another generation, i think loretta was right, we put dr. king in a place where he's kind of stashed. guess what, he disrupted. he got in the way. he annoyed people.

john lewis did the same thing. before them, a. phillip randolph, marcus garvin and malcolm x. guess who else got in the way and annoyed and challenged the status quo? people like george washington, benjamin franklin, john adams, thomas jefferson who looked at unjust status quo and decided they would form a revolution to change and make the country that we now have. you know, before we get too upset with these young people, we need to understand that the tradition that they come from. our job is to apply the pressure that needs to be applied in a political way, a moral way and a social way. we have to make the nation ask itself, some hard questions and say some difficult truths.

we kind of putting aside. and not focusing on and not addressing issues that come before us. i gave a speech in february 2009, people gave me a lot of grief about this nation not looking at racial issues. being afraid to confront racial issue. i thought it was right then. i'm more convinced now that what i said then was truth. unless we're willing to confront these issues and come up with solutions to them, we never really going to make progress. we'll feel comfortable. people in the 1950's, long before the 1950's, that was a time when racial segregation was the law in the south. we had white picket fences, fathers knows best, leave it to beaver. black folks were suffering under the weight of an oppressive system at that time. these are the realities that we

have to acknowledge. the realities that we must continue to confront. we have to prepare the future for those who come after us in the same way that people sacrificed, bled, died and made the present better for us. having said all that, he's a down guy. i'm not. i'm ultimately very optimistic. i'm convinced that the art of progress really does go in an appropriate way. it bends every now and again. there are short circuits. it's not always a continuous line. if we persevere, if we commit ourselves, if we stay dedicated, as those who came before us did, we will get to the place that dr. king talked about. we'll get to that promise land. i want to thank you for this

wonderful award. i want to pledge to you that although i have left the justice department, i will pledge my best efforts to remain involved in the fight. as i said in the courthouse on the -- white house i announced my vermon resignation, i will nr leave the work. [applause] i hope you all feel that same sense. in all the things that we do that goes beyond what we're here today to commemorate to note. there are no 9:00 to 5:00 jobs. there are kids to raise. television shows to watch. there's also a place you should find in your week in your day to be dedicated to the work. be dedicated to the work. so that we leave a country better than we found it. it won't be perfect.

but we can always make it better. that's why i'm optimistic because i know that you will be committed in that way. i will be committed to you in that way and with great leaders like this man, great organizations like this one. i'm confident that a 21st century america can be better than the 20th century america that dr. king helped to shape in so many fundamentally good ways. thank you again for this wonderful award. i look forward to working with all of you in the years to come. [applause] >> eric holder. i mentioned robert smith who he'll be honoring who is such a model citizen. we also have eric young,

outstanding labor leader as well as liz powell. both of the attorney generals referred to education and the need to build the internal character and information of our young. when arnie duncan left the administration, president obama looked around the country for who could continue that work. he came and glazed at the state that i was born and found a courageous educator, a visionary, one that we knew in new york well. standing up against those that had vested interests for those that was supposed to be object of what education is all about.

that is the students. he did not waiver in the face of being questioned. he did not capitulate in the face of controversy. he earned the respect of new york as he is now the nation. i bring you the acting secretary of education for the united states, the honorable -- he and i two different looks of brooklyn. i let you all decide what that is. the honorable dr. john b. king jr. >> good morning. thank you reverend sharpton for

that warm brooklyn introduction and for your incredible leadership on behalf of civil rights and young people. it's an honor to join all of you this morning. it's humbling to follow mrs. pinckney who's example is an inspiration for me and to the country. it's an honor to follow the two attorney general, attorney general lynch, it's a privilege to work with you to expand education for folks who are leaving incarceration. i think it's a critical efforts. attorney general holder, inspired by your example and your unwaivering commitment to continue the work after leaving the administration. grateful to the national action network board for bringing us together and pleased to be a part of the celebration of the life of dr. king. i want to spend a few moments reflecting on the principles of

dr. king's life and how we think about the future of education in the united states. dr. king dedicated his life to few simple principles. equality, justice, compassion, hope. and two urgencies. almost 50 years ago in a sermon about new year's resolutions, dr. king described a conversation with his children. he told them, i don't ever want you to forget that millions of god's children who will not and cannot get a good education. i don't want you feeling that you're better than they are. you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be. so the question i ask us to reflect on this morning is are we what we ought to be? we are closer, no doubt. we are closer than when dr. king

spoke those words. we are closer to when president obama entered the oval office. are we there yet? i say we are not there. we are closer for sure. last year we announced the highest graduation rate we ever had as a country, 82%. we got there because of dramatic reductions in drop out rates for african-americans, latino students and low income students. today there are many more african-american and latino students in college than there were when president took office. last year we had not only our largest graduation in college but most diverse. that's progress. we should recognize and celebrate that progress and celebrate the principles and the teachers and the students and families and communities that made that progress possible and that strive everyday for equity and excellence.

yet, for every emmitt till, we still have a tamir rice. biased, prejudice, the legacy of institutional racism still affect our promise of equality under the law. so too, inequality under mines our promise of educational opportunity. violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving 6 years of education. we worry that no matter what indicator you look at, our african-american and latino students have a gap. our low income students have gap. we see that gap in graduation rates and gap in achievements. we know our students, our african-american and latino students or students of color, are receiving less, less resources, less effective

teachers, less access to art. less advanced course work. we know that it is still true that affluent student, six times more likely to graduate from college than a low income student. we know that the unemployment rate for african-american youth more than done doubled for white people. sadly statistics suggest that african-american man today is more likely to go to prison and to earn a bachelor's degree. yet, we have far to travel. we are not yet where we ought to be. we are not yet who we ought to be. in a nation that imprisons a higher proportion of black males than did south africa at the height of apartheid. it is no time what dr. king once called the tranquilizing drug of graduates. we must bring to the work of

improving educational opportunity tremendous urgency. it is an urgency that is deeply personal for me. reverend sharpton said i grew up in brooklyn, i went to ps276. when i was in fourth grade, my mom passed away. career educator. she come to new york from puerto rico. growing up in the bronx and became an educator. she passed away when i was eight. i lived with my father. grown up in bedside, brooklyn. highest ranking african-american educator in education in the late 1950's. i lived alone with my dad. he was sick what we now know is alzheimer's. home was a scary and unpredictable place.

i lost my mother at the center of my life. i lived with my father who was so sick and school, saved my life. school is the reason i'm standing here today. school is the reason that i was able to survive that period. teachers, new york city public school teachers made school this place that was compelling and interesting and engaging and safe, when home was not. i became a teacher and a principal because i wanted to try to do for other kids what teachers had done for me. education is the difference between help and despair. it is the difference between life and death. we are now at a crossroads moment as a country and education. last year the president signed into law that every student succeeds act. that law replaces no child left behind. it was too much of a one size fits all solution. we have a new education law and the question is, how will we use that education law to advance

equity? that law reauthorize elementary and secondary act. i was a high school social studies teacher. that elementary and secondary act was first adopted in 1965. signed into lay by lyndon johnson. the federal education role is a civil rights role. the federal education law is a civil rights law. will this new law advance equity. everything must appear to high standards. importantly, it requires states act when schools are not meeting those standards, when schools are not helping students to meet those standards. there's been a lot of talk about this law giving more flexibility to states and indeed it does and

should. but we understand that our responsibility is to ensure that the law is enforced in a way that advances equity and civil rights. that is our responsibility. we also understand that this greater flexibility for states is a call to action, a call for the civil rights community to engage in every state capitol on how states use this new flexibility. the question for states will be, how do we define success? what do we do when there are inequities. how do we ensure our schools reflect the diversity we value as a country. it would be critically important for the civil rights community to engage in every state on these questions. we know that english and math performance are a necessary but not sufficient for success in life. we know that test scores don't tell us all that we need to know. there's an opportunity for states to look at.

are students getting access to advance courses. are students getting access to art and music? are students getting access to healthcare services and wrap around services that they may need. there's an opportunity for states to look at students not just their academic development but their socioemotional development. all of those indicators can be valuable but not if they paper over inequities. not if they distract us from the goal of ensuring quality of opportunity. this law can be equity enhancing but it would require the partnership of the civil rights community and the demands of parents and communities around equity. states also have an opportunity to get smarter about how we serve our students. ensuring that all student have access to education. showing that all students have access to quality preschool

which we know is a fundamental, difference maker. states have an opportunity to ensure that they hold to high standards that this politicians don't roll back higher expectations because we know it's our students, african-american students and latino students for whom folks hold lower expectations. whether or not states approach this new law in this way, will depend on the engagement of the civil rights community. states have an opportunity to tackle the school prison pipeline. to work to reduce discipline. work to change the relationship between law enforcement and schools such that schools are not a pathway to prison but a pathway to college. that will require state leadership. six decades after brown versus

board of education, states have an opportunity to make smart decisions to ensure that schools reflect the diversity that we value as a society. six decades after brown v. board of education, there are schools that are more segregated today than we were 10 or 20 years ago. the question is will state use this new flexibility to advance locally driven voluntary efforts to create more diverse schools. when children are diverse and strong, all students benefit. we know there are smart changes that states can make to create magnet school and regional schools. an opportunity for students to engage across culturally in school. we are all stronger for it. will states do that. that will depend on the leadership of the single -- civil rights community. we are at a crossroads moment

and criminal justice. we are at a crossroads moment in education. the question is, will we fulfill the promise of equality of opportunity through our schools? the answer to that question is up to us. will we be who we ought to be. my father as i mentioned was a teacher in new york city public school. he also played basketball a lot. his brother, was a famous basketball player played in professional basketball before african-americans were allowed to play with white folks. my father always wished he was as good a basketball player. he looed to play on the -- loved to play on the weekend. one weekend, my father broke his wrist. the principal said, mr. king you can't teach. he said what do you mean i can't

teach? he said, we have a rule. regulation that said, if you have a cast, you can't be in the classroom. my father said but my students are waiting for me. principal said i'm sorry, that's just the rule. this story my father used to tell when someone in my family would say something was too hard. my father went over, he smashed the cast. he brushed the pieces into a trash can. he put his hand in suit pocket, he said i'm going to teach my class now. whenever someone would say something was too hard or too much work, my father would say,

hold that wrist. he wouldn't have to repeat the story. my father understood that school saved lives. he could not have known that school would save his son's life. school saved lives and what happens in classroom, he's tremendously urgent. my father understood that. he went to class that day to make sure that we would become who we ought to be. so the challenge for us is will we act. will we take the actions necessary to become who we ought to be. let us act with urgency on behalf of the civil rights of our children. let us ensure that school is a pathway to opportunity. thank you so much. [applause]

>> dr. john king. educated at cornell university. born in colorado. dr. king fought his last battle around economics. the man that personified that who's been committed to human rights and civil rights and is an outstanding entrepreneur and an outstanding if philanthropi. he is now head of vista equities. he manages equity capital commitments of approximately $14 billion.

and he's -- he's been a firm supporter of not only causes and education and in civil rights, but in opening the doors for others. we're honored to honor him on this, the 30th anniversary of the martin luther king day holiday. will you join me in honoring robert f. smith. [applause]

begin everyone silent about things that matter. these words were so powerfully spoken by dr. king at the height of the civil rights movement. continue to hold great meaning in america today.