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. his invocation to stand up for

what matters despite the odds and despite the risks. gather to check in on the state of the dream today. we live in a very fractured time. oppression and violence and the scourge of poverty. fear pulls us apart. our future remains uncertain. of very perilous presence. all too often we as a society focus on what divides us. on the thingsg that bring us together. in light of these challenges, it would be easy to turn away to feel daunted and throw in the in the face of this enduring struggle for equality. to do so would fly in the face of dr. king's dream.

it would cut against the great power and responsibility that he believed every one of us had. and we have the power to heal the world through unity. a culture that encourages tolerance because tolerance is not enough. he taught us to covet a culture of respect and empathy and understanding and love. in my family we live by very simple doctrine. you are enough. it is built on dr. king's lesson that each of us has a god-given choice and a god-given voice. with that voice comes responsibility to serve and to strive for excellence, to improve the lives of those in our community and those who are less fortunate and to bring peace into this world. despite the many challenges we

face, i am optimistic. we see the headlines of division, signs that we are giving cause to this noble action. i see it in the innovative programs we offer our young people. learning to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. efforts to expand their access to the arts. helping them to appreciate the great outdoors that is america. to cherish the vital pillars of the african-american cultural experience. hope in thefind work that each of you do and the work of man and the dream of dr. king unity of reality equality and opportunity are one step closer to reality with all the work that we do together. we will never become silent to the things that matter we will always stand up for what matters and in doing so we will pay the

most valuable tribute to the life and the vision of the great man we honor today. i want to thank you. i want to thank reverend sharpton. i want to thank attorney general holder. i want to thank attorney general lynch. for standing up for us every day . thank you. [applause] [applause] reverend sharpton. as we prepared honor our labor leaders, i want to acknowledge an outstanding entrepreneur and board member.

he is the only board member of the naacp the urban network the rainbow and the network. he represents cam newton. [laughter] i was praying in the fourth quarter yesterday for cam newton. where he advises and councils cam newton, he and i have a better coach and that is his mother. mcmorris. [applause] that is our special guest. bishops, we had elders,

we had jack lake preachers. andnan has the preacher inckleg america. to present the next award. toavid coxe: i would prefer think of myself as a bootleg preacher. i just don't have credentials. that god calls all of us and my mother didn't want to preacher i can promise you that. last year we were here celebrating the king holiday and one of the honorees was miss

who was one ofs the original people who did this sit in at the woolworth lunch counter at greensboro, south carolina. able to be with us because she was wrestling with leukemia. kicked jim crow leukemiaas kicked . we're so glad you could be with us. [applause] it is such a great honor for me today to introduce one of our honorees. mr. eric young. eric's have done a lot of good work together. it would be an honor on any

occasion but it is a special honor to be able to link his of the reverend dr. martin luther king. eric young deserves this award not only because through his ofk he is a living example dr. king's dream for america. is also because he is an exceptional human being. a person of great courage and andciple and compassion righteousness. our nations history includes so many examples, far too many examples of law enforcement being at odds with the struggle for civil rights and equality. we have come so far in so many ways. at the number of people who've undereaten and killed

shall we say questionable circumstances, the number of times that law enforcement has stood against those who were on the streets fighting for their rights, fighting for their jobs, fighting for their very lives, makes eric young all the more remarkable. of a the elected leader very diverse group of law enforcement officers in the american federation of government employees. that diversely includes different races, different religions, different politics, different sexual orientations, and yesof the country, different ideas about how criminal justice should be administered in this country. these are very special kind of law enforcement officers. their correctional officers and federal prisons. these are people who put their lives on the line every day

doing one of the toughest jobs in america. incarcerated criminals. i stand before you clearly , there are tens of thousands of prisoners who were there for nonviolent drug offenses but trust me brothers and sisters there are thousands of racists and murderers and people who prey on children and of theerly, the worst worst, and correctional officers face them each and every day so that we are have to worry. ands not often, brothers sisters, that one meets a leader of correctional officers who campaigns openly and actively and aggressively for sentencing reform in this country. that aot often correctional officer speaks out against prison overcrowding

for theit is inhumane inmates and dangerous for the correctional officers and inmates alike. it is not often that one meets a correctional officer who advocates for jobs and job training and education so yes inmates are able to behave better in prison, get out earlier and return to society and be productive citizens and enter the workforce and help the economy of this country. that aoud to tell you believes in both civil rights and the law enforcement. both are deeply ingrained in our identity and our principles. i want to tell you my brother eric young is the example of all

examples. he is our first african-american president of our counsel of prison locals and we are so proud of that. i take so much pride in telling is a day about the content of people's character. you have the best content of character that i've ever seen in my life. sisters love and you with all their hearts. please come on down because you deserve this award. and theo proud of you stance the intake for the american people for civil rights and for a better and greater america. [applause] [applause]

reverend out sometimes turns this pulpit over to me. eric young: good morning. this is truly an honor. i would like to give praise to one whom from all blessings flow and that is my heavenly father whose first and foremost in my life. al.k you, reverend it is a humbling experience to receive this martin luther king labor leader award. who willof my daughter

forever be a hallmark in my life. given up for my baby. -- give it up for my baby. [applause] my nieces here as well. they were raised together in miami. they are the same college together. they are the first in my family to ever go to college. [applause] i come in from the city on the inside of the bridge in miami where there are no beaches. i hope that i'm the example to them of what is possible. thanks to the leaders in this room who supported me and believed in me. my friends and colleagues alike. yearsonth will make 21 that i have been involved in the labor movement. it has not been an easy journey. it is been very hard.

times.ous at i lost so many times. included theenges death of two young brothers. i persevered only through trust and believing in god, only god. because of thet wise counsel that he has bestowed upon me. you know who you are. i thank you for being there. you for calling greatness out of me when i didn't believe in myself. i had a moment to short years ago was contemplating quitting. whenent me a scripture dealing with the death of my baby brother. : 8-13.17 was on the mountaintop with the rod of god in his hand as joshua waged battle against the amalekites.

when moses got tired and weary, the israelites began to lose. aron got a rock for him to sit on. you are my aaron, you have been able to sit with me and support me through these two years when i grew weary and i was tired. backt two but god gave me three. like dr. king, i learned to pace myself for long hard-fought battles. owe a lot to afge.

they gave me the opportunity to put my daughter in college. the acting director who is here today and the assistant director, i really thank you for coming, sharing in this momentous occasion. there are some people with whom i worked alongside for two years along with my other colleagues to represent the largest federal law enforcement agency within the department of justice. .hat is not an easy task responsibilities for 39,000 staff. finding solutions for an that

incarcerates so many offenders. you can no peace in your communities. we are the people who protect the people in america. we spent $80 billion on incarceration of 2 million offenders. as criminal justice reform comes to the forefront, it needs to improve on preventive programs. i am a product of the prevention program. high andd mays junior was a part of one of those forrams that kept me here at-risk kids, dropouts. while reentry and sentencing reform or ringing in the air in the halls of congress. i pray that this is the new civil rights movement that will continue to make this a priority for all our children. our children are our future. raised inny are being

single-parent homes where a parent is incarcerated. we partner with the u.s. attorney's office and the school board in miami to usher in middle school children just like i was to hear the stories of offenders who are serving time. hoping to ensure that they will make the right choices. while sentencing reform is a worthy effort let us try to keep our children who are the future out of prison in the first place. [applause] as a professional law enforcement officer i am ready to work. we cannot do this in our comfort zone. dr. martin to king had a dream but his dream did not allow him to live comfortably.

we are in the urgency of now. two attorneys general, peers speak. rosa parks funeral, al sharpton said something that stuck with me for many years. that we actmazes me like we don't have work to do. we do have work to do. is iruth of the matter but ilike to stand wouldn't be standing here without visionaries like dr. king. on behalf of my colleagues who believe that all things are possible, when we come together to do the right thing for our peers in our community. would like to acknowledge the former attorney general eric holder.

congratulating me on being the first african-american elected to my position. to know that i served during the era of the first african-american president of the united states, the first african-american attorney general, the first african-american director of the bureau of prisons, it is a momentous occasion. and now i serve with the first female african-american attorney general. it is just unprecedented. [applause] i try to put god first in all that i do. i believe he blesses me. for a man wasn't raised with his

mother or father. a man who is grateful to survive the streets of miami on the other side of the bridge where opportunities were not readily available. for a man who lost two younger theirrs trying to expire two sons. breaking barriers and ending generational crises. let us continue to seek the dream. dr. king's dream. thank you. [applause]

>> as an only child, liz powell was born in the state of west virginia and graduated salutatorian of her class. she received a scholarship to west virginia state university. she joins the postal service in 1970 as a part-time clerk working in hempstead new york post office on long island while also working as a teacher's aide at the hempstead school district. she became actively involved in serving asad local chief shop steward and secretary-treasurer. she was elected as the first female president of the local.

she believes that the membership is the most important faction of the union and has consistently extended herself as well as the national business agents within the northeast region to provide the state and local unions and the end-all assistance necessary to be successful. this woman is an amazing young lady. many of us know her. awardedwhy she has been this year's breaking the barriers award. let's put our hands together for liz powell, the pwu.etary-treasurer for a [applause] [applause]

powell: where did he get that from? giving honor to god and special recognition to reverend sharpton , the founder and president of the national action network. the people who had all the information to be where i needed to be this morning. a magnificent job of putting this breakfast together. [applause] i have a lot of firsts in my life. colleagues don't even know about. my cheering squad. one month after arriving in new york in 1963 i attended my first civil rights meeting.

that was a thursday. monday i wasing challenging a white known as the litman real estate agency that saying thatrecord no oned hire black but had applied to type. i could do both. theu think about this a jack subjects of the conference this weekend. you can see that the movement created by dr. martin luther king and the fight for social an economic justice is still ongoing movement. most of us remember the i have a dream speech. the march on washington was

organized to fight for jobs because it was recognized that freedom without jobs was not really freedom at all. there are very few people today who know that the march would not have been possible if you do not been for the support of the labor unions. strengthenedd and by one piece of sure and certain information. there are no lost causes. the fight is never over. as long as we stand together and the blood is in us. there can be no final defeat on any battleground. we have to keep the fight going. and given fight we give up the struggle. we do the work that falls to us to the best of our ability, we may rest in the consciousness of a job well done. our message should be loud and clear.

how we play the game determines whether we win or lose. ladderprogress up the continues, i stood on the shoulders of my brothers and sisters. more importantly, the shoulders .f the union membership i am deeply honored to be one of the honorees. you don't just honor me. you honor the fight for second on the can social justice for all working people. [applause] on behalf of my sisters and brothers in the labor movement, i respectfully accept this award and will cherish this moment as i continue to be a part of the movement that continues to fight for social and economic justice. i will be with you.

one day the time, one foot in front of the other. god is good all the time. if there's anything that we can .o, let us know god bless each and every one of you and thank you so much. [applause] [applause]

>> i have seen people using a broadband connection to build their businesses who in a previous era either would have had to migrate one of the coasts but because of that connection they are now able to innovate. that is something that is really powerful especially in rural america. communicators at 8:00 on c-span2. coming up tonight, the british house of commons debates banning donald trump from the united kingdom over his remarks about muslims. then we bring you mr. trump speaking at liberty university. later ohio governor and presidential candidate john kasich is in new hampshire. talking about teen drug and alcohol ab