good morning and welcome to mosaic. i am aaron swisher. upon behalf of our producer and our cohost, this is of course valentine's day and we shout out to you and wish you the best and your loved ones on this way and our producer will have a segment on that later in the program this. is also black history month. black history was first proposed back in 1915 by dr. dr. woodson, g. woodson. his story and he saw in the books there was no reference to african american and blacks in that time and so he proposed a week at that time and it was -- it wasn't until about 1926 that

it was adopted as a week, black history week, but in 1976 it became black history month in many states, and in fact president gerald ford was the first to acknowledge black history as being important. the united kingdom acknowledged it in 1987, canada in 1995. until we have an emphasis on african american who made a contrib to our society because of that. we have that guest who has been here before, we've had him as a guest back in july so i'm please to have him again, paul cob. good to see you again. >> good to be here. >> what is your background and history that you've made? >> well, you know i was born here in the bay area. i became a reporter with the

post newspaper, went to selma to march with dr. king and to record the events and to participate in that historic event. i participated in forming the black caucus which helped elect blacks to public office in the city of oakland and i became a kennedy fellow, worked for robert f. kennedy memorial or foundation, and from there i got involved with senator mcgovern as a speech writer and traveled around the country. from there i became the director of the southern elections fund. it's a fund that helps elect blacks and women throughout the south. and over 100 mayors and others, i came back to oakland in '76 with an organization called okur and i got involved with the

school board, governor jerry brown appointed me to the school board and i bought the oakland post newspaper and. >> he's a publisher. >> i'm a publisher. >> and the post news group, when you gave your introduction on black history, we went from a week to a month. now, for black publishers, black history is a year-long event because every week is black history week with black publications. >> you brought dr. king here. >> dr. king was in oakland in 1962 at the oakland auditorium and my stepfather in law richard a.g. foster and reverend stovall and a lot of key ministers of the bay area, i got a chance to meet dr. king at the open

auditorium and three months prior to his visit in december of 1962, we had what is called the mind of the ghetto conference where malcolm x and mohamed ali had come to oakland to crack a plan and discuss ideas such as reparations and so forth and a lot of the energy and thought and information from that conference was given to dr. king when he visited here which became the grist for his march on washington in '63. the following year. there's a check that needs to be cashed where blacks have been ignored. so that's, that's -- >> a wonderful introduction and thank you for that richness. that's one of the reasons why we invited you. please join us with paul cobment

-- cob. farz

. welcome back. we've been talking to paul cobb black history month. tell us about what you do. >> we have nine papers all over california, and we have el mundo our spanish language newspaper. we have the largest circulated black owned publication in north california. we have a plan to go statewide and national with a special black history insert where we will cover issues like whatever happened to freedman's back and

will every black get an opportunity to have the alex hailey experience where they can trace their family tree and develop a sense of an effective family unit. those are the kinds of things that, so rather than in an era of diminishing presence of news present. in the black community, particularly news print still has primacy as a communication vehicle because of the general market doesn't always include. >> when i was there in oakland, pastor, you delivered the paper there to our churches. do you still do that? >> we still do that. we deliver two bundles of papers there. >> taylor memorial. >> right up the street from beth eden baptist and pleasant grove, across the street, there's a triangle there.

we deliver to over 700 african american churches in the bay area. our plan is to go 5,000 churches in the state of california and ultimately 25,000 nationally. >> you mentioned malcolm x and dr. king of course. the whole movement of the civil rights movement we associate with dr. king, but malcolm we associate with the black power movement. can you say a word about that? >> yes, all of the movements were pivotal, it's almost like a symphony and harmony of malcolm x raised the consciousness of blacks in terms of especially those who were considered downtrodden. he often hoped for x offenders, for those living in ghettos, with a self help image.

carmichael and stitch preached using vote and voter regtration as a powerful tool to express power. and the media of course took the word power and over emphasized it as if it was an extra dangerous violent thing but they weren't asking everybody to join the national rifle association, they were asking people to join the national voter registration association, and to express themselves at the ballot box. and the black lives movement that we have today marked from the seeds sewn by dr. king southern leadership conference, core, the congress of racially equality and the naacp. and the black lives movement is refreshing because one thing they're adding to the dialogue

with their constant nonviolent protest, they have been able to exact prom sis from the administration and caused mayors and others to resign out of -- >> that's right. the flag in south was also -- >> to move the flag down. so i think this era will be marked as an era where they were able to provoke a response of acceptance and accountability whether it's on police brutality or the flag in the south, et cetera. >> you know, i'm glad you brought that up. when we've had black history there's been some concern why black history. then there's concern why a black life movement. say a word about that, why. i mean we see some of the connections but some people will ask, you know, why not some

other lives matter. >> yeah. black lives matter does not mean that white lives do not matter. >> m-hmm. >> black lives matter is really saying, black life matters also. blacks have been generally ignored by the media whether it's the academy awards or whether it's getting an award for attending an academy. blacks have been generally ignored and it's good to emphasize black lives matter to remind the country that we matter and we should matter economically. we matter because we disproportionately volunteer to fight in the army, to protect the riches of the billionaires in this country. we should matter because we have contributed to america and we have been overlooked, and that we want to participate in

society, and our votes should matter. so black lives matter is, is a call to please respect us, give us the dignity of our citizenship. this does not mean you have to diminish your own to acknowledge ours. >> our movement of course, black history and all of that, has inspired other movements like march is women's movement month, you have also filipino movement, you have lgbt. >> they have used the tactics of the civil rights movement that we employ in the 60s and 70s, they have used them and merged the tactics, and i think that's one of the reasons why lgbt has been so accepting in gaining response from government and respect if decision makers in

the corporate world. there's still a lot more to do, and i've seen an opportunity for lgbt, the asians hispanic, and black lives matter, converging through voter registration, using the ballot box. if dr. king were here today he would be saying to all of these groups, if they were convened at a central place, let's get 100% registration and express our desire through the ballot box. >> thank you, paul. thank you for those words. we had come back to paul cobb.

[music] i love my sister. my heart doesn't see race. love is love.

. welcome back to mosaic and black history month. you might wonder why was february chosen.

dr. carl woodson chose february because february 12th is abraham lincoln's birthday but february 14th is the great abolitionist's birthday. he thought it was important for both of their boirt birtday. the naacp was also started in february. cobb made reference to vote, and given the right to vote was also activated in february. the citizens back in the 60s began in february. about five or six significant days in february is why we celebrate, it's not because it's the shortest month of the year, some people have said that, but because of those significant days. tell us a little bit more about black history, paul. >> frederick douglas is the dean of modern day black history

because he was the equivalent of oprah winfrey in his day. he visited, the collaborated with abraham lincoln, he was the guest speaker for a lot of movements, especially women's suffrage. he was the one who tried to bail out the freedman's bank when congress messed it up. so frederick douglas was an inspirational, spiritual, and/orritorikal leader. >> excellent. we alluded to some of dr. king. what are some of the african american ministers who had an impact. i think of marcus garvey. he had a different kind of emphasis but he was a spiritual

leader. father devine. >> well, actually marcus garvey are the united negro improvement association and they used the bible as a part of their services and practice. in a sense, if we wanted to understand the his torifity, he was one of the first black lives matter advocates and he took it so far as to coin the phrase back to africa, back to understanding your roots, back to economic development. and i think you'll see the black lives matter morph into black jobs matter, black affordable housing matters, black access to capital matters. we're writing articles about it.

so i think the impact of the spiritual contribution of every major black leader has had a connection and spirituality is a part of the style and political approach. whether it's frederick douglas, malcolm x, martin luther king, and so forth. even mohamed ali in terms of his public aspirations and psychological presentation, he referred to god and he called on the spirit. and so the martin luther king legacy is going to be the temperature plate for black history, forever, in terms of -- because of its emphasis on the dignity of man, the inclusion of other races which the bible teaches and taught him which he

taught all of us, that is the success form a, that's the winning temperature plate tte of win template. >> you were talking about canada. >> i hope we reach out to our canadian counterparts because i know publications this as well as england so we can have a dialogue during black history month. i think there are stories in america that should be exported and taught around the world. and more specifically there's the what happened at charleston, at the ame church in charleston. that is bhak history. -- black history. that's the influence of king.

that's the influence of tupperman, howard thurman. >> great people. why do you say that? >> because they had the spirit of exercising and extended christian love. did you see how they forgave the individual? they reacted nonviolently. they reacted as jesus would have reacted. father forgive them for they know not what they do. and that hesson combined with -- lesson combined with the symbolism with black faith based institution, their response to violence is a lesson that should be exported by our political leaders, but our international media and mosaic can leave that imprint. >> you mentioned howard thurman. >> what did jesus say to the man

whose back is against the wall on the book on the disinherited. and what would jesus say to the man whose back is against the wall today? >> and forgiveness, and love, and justice. >> yes. >> and protests. >> yes. >> and commitment, and compassion and all of that. the example set by jesus. >> that's right. >> and i think that example you gave in south carolina is a powerful example. we have a few second left, any final words to say to you? >> well, i'm looking forward to us having a dialogue with all the organizations and ethnic groups in america. we need to reach out to them and ask them to reach out to their countries of origin to take a positive lesson of black history month and struggle and

resourcefulness and how they handle a difficult time and use that as an exported product of american democracy. >> thank you, paul. that's excellent. >> thank you. >> blessings to you, and thank you for joining us. we have a last segment with an emphasis on valentine's and dr. hugh barows will be with us.

,, . welcome back to mosaic. we could not go without mentioning valentine's day, and so our producer hugh barrow is here. >> great interview, great to have paul cobb back. i have to read them because i can't memorise them any more. four or five poems here to get you in the spirit of this day of

valentine aday. i hear my beloved, see how he comes leechg on the moun tints, bounding over the hills. my behofd is like a gazelle, like a young stag, he stands behind the lattice of the walls, come them my love, my beloved is mine and i am his. he said it like a seal on your heart for love is strongest depth, a flame of the lord himself. >> amen. >> skip to the 16th century, george herbert. love bade me welcome yet my soul drew back guilty of dust and sin but quick i love observing me grow slack grew nearer to me sweetly questioning if i lacked anything. we couldn't do anything without andrew marvel. to add spice to the day. had we but world enough and time, this coyness head were no

crime, we would sit and think which way to walk and pass our long loves day and my vegetable love would grow. but at my back i always hear times winged chariot near. none i think do their embrace, let us roll our strength in all, thus though we cannot make our son stand still, yet we had make it run. a russian poet, when your face appeared over my crumpled life at first i understood only the poverty of what i have. then its particular light on woods on rivers on the sea became my beginning. i am so frightened of the unexpected sunrise vanishing. i don't fight it, my love is awe steer. i am conscious that these minutes are short and that the

colors will vanish when your face sets. >> wonderful. >> there's another one you may know here. love hurts, love scars, love wounds, lover mars, i really learned a lot, really learned a lot, love is like a stove, burns you when it hurts. who is that. >> roy orbison? >> we have time for one more. >> sonnet 91, some ghory in their birth, some in their skill, some in their wealth, some in their body, some in their garments, some in their hocks and hounds, some in their horse. but these particulars are not mine measure. all these i in one general best. thy love is for me. more delights than hocks and horses be and all men's pride i

boast wretched in this alone that you may take this from me and me most wretched make. >> ezra read the scripture and after that people said amen, amen. so it is. great work. >> thanks, ron. >> wonderful. thank you for joining us.

hello everyone and welcome to base sunday i am your host frank malakhov, we have the golden state warriors new president a terrific singer that's getting back and a restaurant tour that has a terrific menu and the giving spirit. we encourage you to follow us on social media and we have lots of extras there and look at these angry birds speakers for the iphone, like our facebook page and subscribe on youtube follow us on twitter. if you have a good idea we would love to hear from you at the social networking sites or go to cbs.com. our first guest