there visiting him last weekend. he was in good spirits. our kids were wonderful with him and he with them. cracking jokes right to the end. robert emmett cunningham of los altos, california, via new caledonia and lady gulf on his way to arlington. thank you for your service. i've seen the promise land. i may not get there with you, but i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promise land. >> the words that still propel us forward toward that dream of fairness and equality, and today the signs of progress are everywhere. >> i promise you, we as a people will get there. change has come to america. >> but challenges remain. tonight, we'll talk about advancing the dream for the next

50 years and beyond with trail blazers, magic johnson, tyler perry, condoleezza rice, cory booker, and stevie wonder. it's a night to celebrate america's promise and look toward its future. this is an msnbc special. "advancing the dream." live from the world famous apollo theater. here's your host, the reverend al sharpton. >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you.

thank you. thank you. it's great to be back here at the apollo tonight, and we'll celebrate where we've been and where we're going. and what a better place to talk about advancing the dream than from this stage? the site of so many great moments. i remember hearing the story of ella fitzgerald who came here for amateur night on a wednesday night. she was going to dance and win amateur night, but right before her were two sisters who came out on this stage and danced and took the prize. she stood there and decided on that moment, at that time, that she was going to sing. and she came out behind those dancers and she sang and came back the next week and she won for number one singer.

that's how things happen on this stage. people just learn to survive. and learn to use whatever talent and gifts they have to thrive. so tonight we'll talk about the new achievements and new challenges. my guests were able to succeed because of the dream, but also because they took the risk and disciplined themselves. yes, doors were opened by the dream generation, but it's up to each and every one of us to walk through those doors. just to open those doors and not have people prepared and know the character takes to deliver and to perform and to excel through those doors means we will never get where doctor king and others have envisioned for us, and we must keep them doors open for generations to come. you know, there is so much magic on this stage over the years.

so tonight we thought we'd start with some magic. watch. he's a symbol of hope. urban johnson's known simply as magic. for the awe inspiring tricks he pulled off for 13 years in that lakers uniform. >> crowd will be talking about that for a week. >> in 1991, he shocked the sports world. >> because of the hiv virus that i have, i will have to retire from the lakers. >> he became the world's leading advocate for hiv and aids prevention. >> we're all in this. it's not just magic johnson. it's everybody. >> then it was a fast break into the business world and a focus on rejuvenating urban community. he developed movie theaters, coffee shops, and restaurants. he broke new ground, becoming the first african-american owner

of a major league baseball team. it happens to be jackie robinson's dodgers. he's lived the dream and spent a lifetime advancing it for others. on a night we celebrate progress here at the apollo, it's only fitting we celebrate with the man who brought us show time. ladies and gentlemen, the one and only urban magic johnson. ♪ good to see you, magic. >> oh, man, god is so good, man. you're doing this show. this is beautiful.

bringing here to harlem, apollo. you're doing some great things. we need a show like this to help our people understand where we need to go from here. >> you know, we just two weeks ago, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of martin luther king's speech, "i have a dream." couple hundred of us marched. martin looututher king, groups, national action network, other groups, urban league, but in order to do that we have also be prepared and deal with our individual stories. you have a different kind of story. you came from a household in detroit, mother and daddy there, but you still faced challenges. you still had to make it. tell people how, in your young years, you caught on to something that inspired you. because i read about how there was some businessmen in the

community and you used to go sit behind the desk and dream. >> yes. well, you know, i grew up in lansing, michigan. my father worked for general motors for 30 years. my mom worked at the school calf ti cafeteria and i didn't know african-americans could own businesses. so it was two black businessmen in lansing, michigan. joe ferguson and greg eaton who own dealerships and buildings and i was like, i want to be like them. so i got bold one day and i said, look, i want to be like you guys and will you give me a job? and will you mentor me? they decided to mentor me and the first thing did was gave me a job to clean this office building that had seven floors. so i was about 15, 16 years old, so i would go clean the first six floors, but on the seventh floor, that's where the ceo's office was. so i would bust in and pretend

like i was the ceo. and i would put my feet up on the desk. >> you'd actually play out t-- >> oh, play it out. >> in your mind, you'd be the ceo. >> reverend, for hours. yes. yes. so i hit that intercom button. i said, ayesha, will you bring me some coffee and doughnuts and the day's paper? so i would pretend ayesha would come on in, bring me the day's paper and doughnuts and everything, and i was pretending like i was bossing people around, and here we are 35 years later or so -- >> and ayesha does bring the coffee. that's right. all right. so you get -- you go to school. you're in athletics. now, your parents came from the south. >> that's right. >> you were from the north like i was. we didn't know that much about segregation, but our parents did. >> yes. >> and i read where you talked about how when you all would go

south, they would pack lunches because you didn't know if a restaurant was going to stop on the way down, you didn't know if you stepped at a restaurant whether they would feed you. >> that's right. so we would go from michigan all the way down to north carolina, because that was our summer vacation. see, you went to work for your cousins. >> right. >> on their farms in the summer. so we would always pack our lunch and dinner in the car. and as we made that 14-hour drive. so when we got down south, this is really interesting. so now i'm in the nba, and we are at, like, a waffle house. >> right. >> so the guy comes out, boy, what you want? and i started to get up. my dad held me down. i'm like, you don't understand, he just don't know no better. and i said, he can't be calling me no boy, dad. he's like, no, son, i can't have you go to jail now. so i -- that taught me a valuable lesson.

even now, today, we have to understand sometime when we go certain places, they're so used to doing things a certain way, that even with all these advancements that we're talking about that we've advanced as people, we still -- >> have a long way to go. >> a long way to go. so my whole thing is this. you know, i grew up poor but i didn't have poor dreams. >> right. >> and so i think that that's really what it's all about. and with dr. king, yourself, and everybody who has been not only stomping around the world for us and getting us a chance to vote and own our own businesses and all the things that we're able to do today, we got to still understand that we got to understand money, build wealth and pass this on to our kids, and then also go into the community that we live in and own our business and then put our people to work. that's what i've been about my

whole career. >> let me ask you something. i to get into that, but i want to ask you this. you had -- went into athletics. you were magic. i mean, championships. legend. and then you came and told the world that you had to fight this virus. and some of the people shunned you. >> right. >> and you fought back. i mean, because there's so many people that disproportionate in our community, but so many people watching tonight that something comes and knocks them off their stride. how did you deal with that? you're a champion in pro basketball. known all over the world. and now you've got to deal with being knocked down and get up. what gave you the strength to do that? >> well, wretched, god blessed me, number one, with early detection. so when i found out i was hiv positive, i found out at the right time. so that the medicine could work for me. then my wife, who is my partner

in crime and a beautiful, beautiful woman, decided to stay with me. >> cookie don't defend crimes. >> she could have left. i told her that. she decided to stay with me. the first thing she said, we're going to pray about this, and sure enough, god just blessed not only her to be healthy, but our son, e.j., to be healthy as well. so that was really a blessing. and once i found out they were going to be okay, it gave me the strength to carry on and really live and do what i had to do. look, just because you get knocked down don't mean you have to lay down there. you know, you can get up and still con yotinue your life on. this is what really happened to me. i was upset, sad because i was in the prime of my career and i didn't want to give up basketball. so when i retired, i'm laying on

the couch one day and my wife comes in and says, get out. i'm looking around like one of the kids are in back of me or something. she said, no, i'm talking to you. she said, get out, and when you come back, be the man that i married. and because what happened was i was feeling so sorry for myself. she said, urban, you had dreams of being a businessman. okay. let's start living your dream out. let's start getting, building some strategy so that you can become a businessman. that got me moving, got me going. so i owe a lot of this to cookie and to god because both of them just blessed me. >> now, now, you built this business, and most of athletes and entertainers, many who come across this stage, end up broke. what gave you the drive and the business acumen? i mean, everywhere i look, you're in business. you're in all kinds of businesses. and now, you know, when my mother and father were coming up, it was big jackie robinson play for the dodgers. you are part owner of the

dodgers. i mean, this is amazing to see where we've gone in 50 years. >> well, thank you. you know, it's -- i always wanted to be a businessman, and i've always wanted to effect change in our community. so i said, you know what, when i made this money, i didn't want it to be like everybody else who was blowing their money on material things and i wanted to go into the community and make sure that i make a difference. and so when i built that theater right down the block here, it was for our people that they can go have a good time, watch a first-run movie, take their family and still be able to make sure that they understand that i am a part of this building, in terms of me. so if i can do it, you can do it, too. so you've got to be an example to these young people because we're all about feeling, touching and seeing. see, we're tired of everybody talking. you go into the barbershop and

the hair salon, everybody running their mouth about what they want to do, how they're going to do it but nothing gets done. i'm not one of those people. i'm a guy of action and i want to make sure that we understand that we can do this. and so when i built these businesses, it's was more for not just myself. i wanted to open the door for a lot of african-americans so they could follow me down this same path. and then the athletes and entertainers, they got to understand, you know, somebody helped me get here. i didn't get here by myself. you know? somebody told me, huh-uh, boy, you can't go down that road, or, huh-uh, if you do something wrong, i'm going to call your parents. so, you know, the village raised me. so i got to go back now and give back because somebody helped me. and then these athletes and entertainers, they got to understand that, look, you're not going to be doing this forever, so you have to take care of your money then hopefully you'll go back and invest it in the same community that helped you to get you where

you are. >> well, let me say -- let me say you also give a lot of us bragging rights because you know i have two daughters, dominique and ashley in here somewhere. i took them out one night to magic johnson theater over at starbucks, it said magic on the starbucks out in california. i took them somewhere else you owned. i said, i know him. i grabbed my cell phone. i dialed you. but i got voicemail. magic, we're going to bring you back in a minute. don't go nowhere. thank you, so much. magic johnson. >> stevie wonder, tyler perry, cory booker, plus condoleezza rice on her own amazing journey. >> my parents couldn't take me to have a hamburger at the walworts counter, but had me absolutely convinced i could be president of the united states if i want to. >> that's all coming up when msnbc's special "advancing the dream" live from the apollo,

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♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ welcome back to "advancing the dream." live from the apollo.

here's your host, the reverend al sharpton. >> welcome back. welcome back. our next guest went from living in his car to living the american dream. hollywood titan, tyler perry. tyler perry is one of hollywood's leading men, and i guess you can say women. >> i'm madea. hallelujah. >> yes. there perry's portrayal of madea, outspoken and lovable senior citizen exploded on to the national scene in "diary of a mad black woman." the movie was a hit and opened new doors to african-americans in show business. from there, tyler blazed the trail for black entertainers, becoming the first african-american to launch his own major tv and film studio and

an exclusive production partnership with oprah winfrey. but it's really his own miracle story of hope and determination that's the stuff of hollywood. he went from being homeless, to being the highest paid man in entertainment, but he never forgets where he came from. >> i just really believe to who much is given, much is required. we all have to have a level of responsibility for what we do for ourselves and what we do for others. >> ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome tyler perry. ♪ >> good to see you. >> good to see you. >> i mean, if anybody really represents -- >> wait, let me rub the log.

>> now, for people that don't know -- >> yeah. >> -- and obviously you do, because you work theaters and everything and you know all of these things, this is where when people come on amateur night, they rub this for good luck, and he rubbed this before we started the interview. >> yes because i need some good luck sitting here next to you talking to you right now. >> we have a small one downtown that phil griffin gives, chris matthews and i do it every night. tyler, you really represent the dream, but you also represent one that didn't forget how to come back and help others dream. you started in louisiana. >> yeah. >> you had, like many of us, a difficult childhood. issues with your father. all of us -- well, some of us have, i have. and, yet, somehow you was able

to discipline yourself and insulate yourself. tell us about how you dealt with this childhood, because maybe people watching think that you got to have a certain pedigree and a certain background in order to do something. you went past all of them dealing not only with problem of race but class inside of our race. >> yeah. >> and you still busted through. >> well, i appreciate that, wretched. i tell you, for me, you talk an where you come from. my -- i was talking to my sister earlier before i came. i told her i was going to do this and advancing the dream. we started talking about my great-great grandfather. i remember being about 4 or 5 years old. he was very old at the time. laying in the bed. i would visit my grandmother in rural louisiana. and he either was -- he was born right at the emancipation proclamation or he was born a slave. we don't know because of birth records. but knowing the history of where he's come from, understanding that both my parents grew up in rural louisiana, in the center

of jim crow, and having the pathology of what that is and having that passed on, i understood the history of it. i remember watching "mississippi burning" with my mother. i was 16 or 17 years old. she jumped up from the sofa screaming or yelling. she left the room. i didn't understand it. i understand the history of where i come from, and i feel like when you understand that kind of history, that's what i think the problem is with a lot of our young people. we are so busy trying to get away from where we come from that we don't know who we are. so it is so -- it is so important that we understand where we come from. so as i think about her and the struggles and everything that i've been through, none of it compares to what our ancestors endured for us to just be able to sit at the table. you know, i live in a house in georgia. i'll tell you the story really quick. i was sued a few years ago by this gentleman who i bought this property in georgia, tore down

the house, and i find out i'm being sued. i show up to court. it's a guy who's 90 years old. and he was suing me for tearing down the house. he had lost the house in a malpractice lawsuit. so i owned the property free and clear. the judge told him that. as i did some research and history on him, i found out that he had argued the merits of segregation all the way up to the supreme court against thurgood marshall. >> wow. >> so as i'm looking -- >> the man that sued you. >> the man that sued me. the man that owned the property that i know own. so i'm sitting there having this conversation and telling some friends there, oprah's there, congressman john lewis is there. he has tears in his eyes. he says, i'm one of the people that sat in at the counter at one of his hotels that he did not want to integrate. so here we are standing on the land that he used to own, the csignificance of that every morning. i get the chills every time i look out at the property.

i realize the shift of what god has done for so many of us. for so many of us. >> you -- you had to endure child abuse. you then tried to go into plays. you got the idea watching oprah, i think, that -- >> yeah. >> -- of starting to write down things. tell us how this seed was planted because i think oprah doesn't get a lot of credit for a lot of inspiring that she's done. >> listen to me, if i hadn't seen that show, first of all, i saw this woman on television every day who looked like me. looked like my aunt or my cousin. you know, for the first time. and she said it was cathartic to write things down. i had a terrible, you know, i barely graduated high school and i had to go look up the word cathartic to find out what it meant. you laugh, but true. i go and look it up then i started writing all of these shows, these stories. i didn't want people to know that i had been through the things i'd went through, so i used different characters names over and over, you know, in some

of my stories. and i couldn't afford to go to theaters, so i would wait until intermission when a show would be in town and i would sneak in when all the smokers would come out at intermission, i'd go back in to see the show. >> we do that at the apollo. >> is that right? is that right? that's why so many people think my movies are incomplete, because i only saw the second acts of most shows. but what -- having all of that, having the inspiration from her and then having the opportunity and the wherewithal to go for it and just believe that it's going to be okay. for me, it's my faith. i'm grateful to my mother. she didn't have millions of dollars or a legacy to leave. she took me to church, taught me about god and faith and sustained me through -- even the thing that sustained me through her death. >> now, you feel that it is that that kept you from going down the bad road because you could have easily just succumb and just surrendered to the

temptations of just i'm not going to be anything, i'm going throughdifficultdifficult tties and challenges. what made you choose to be something rather than be nothing? >> if you look at hurricane katrina, i think it blew the roof off literally of the poverty in new orleans. that's what i was growing up in. that kind of life. it was my mother and the madeas on the block and on the corner who except all the kids straight. you know, it's -- what i do is in such celebration to -- i promise you because they were so strong and so powerful and they didn't have -- my mother didn't have to worry about what i was doing in the afternoon. she didn't have to keep an eye on me all day because the lady across the street would tell her as soon as she got home what was going on. so we all looked out for each other. so it was the strength of all of those people. it was the prayer, the prayers of my mother and my grandmother and my great-grandmother, my great-grandfather. it's the prayers of all of those people who brought me to this place.

absolutely. i feel it every day. i have a responsibility, rev. i think we all do. have a responsibility when you have been given this and stood on people's shoulders to reach a higher level, you have a responsibility to not only reach back, but you have a responsibility to share what you have learned. i would be a fool to walk around with my pants hanging around my ankles and chains. just, you know -- i'm not judging anybody. i'm not judging anybody, but i understand what is behind me. and i can't look at that amount of pain. i can't look at that amount of service. i can't look at the debt that they pay and then turn around and slap them in the face talking about yo, yo, yo, i'm a thug, what's happening? condjugate a verb. i say that to say not in judgment, if we knew where we come from and what we endured, it would change us all a great deal. >> you -- let me just ask you

this quickly. when you went to hollywood, you were, i mean, already superstar with uses, but you said when you first went out there, they didn't know who you were. >> who are you? what do you do? listen, i didn't go in with -- i may have came as one, but they didn't know i had millions standing with me. i got to the town -- i was a huge superstar among black people. >> no question. >> could not walk down the street. i could send an e-mail and sell out from the beacon to this place, to the kodak in l.a., and got to hollywood and they said, who are you, what have you done? because it's such a -- it's such a small world. listen, it is a great machine, but it's a small machine which is a huge machine with so much power. so i didn't -- i wasn't offended by it when i heard it. i just said, okay, i'll do this the way i've done everything else and it will be okay. then i got a call from mike, come, let's have a conversation about this. and by then i had such an attitude, i was like, i'm not doing this, not doing that. you're going to do this, going

to do that. at the end of the conversation, i heard, okay. i was like, oh, okay, we'll do that then. yeah. >> we're going to bring you back. >> that's it? it was up that quick? >> you ain't finished. you're not finished. i'm going to bring you back later. i have movie ideas for you. >> here we go. here we go. >> reverend al, we have a little thing we could do. we'll be right back. tyler perry. thank you. >> coming up, stevie wonder back on stage at the apollo. senate candidate cory booker on how he's advancing the dream. and condoleezza rice on the day that may have changed her life. >> somebody called the church to say that a bomb had gone off at 16th street. we felt the explosion. >> this is an msnbc special. "advancing the dream" live from the apollo.

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♪

"i feel good." the godfather james brown performing his iconic song right here on this stage in a legendary performance in 1968. you know, this building is not only historic, it has not only been an epic center for history. it's personal to many who grew up in new york. i was raised by a single mother, but the memory i have of my father before he left, he used to bring us to the apollo. we used to sit right about there where that lady with the green dress. we'd have to stand in long lines. he'd bring me to see james brown. little did i know that i would grow into my teens working in civil rights and i would meet a young man named teddy brown who got killed in a car accident. his father came to new york to do a memorial for him. his name was james brown.

james brown adopted me, became the father that left me. i spent many nights standing in the wings watches hing him do m on this stage. i know tonight my physical father is somewhere watching this show, and my godfather is smiling. i brought you to the apollo. andn i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ a writer and a performer. ther, i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick... and then i got better. little things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. ensures support, a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease. we cure alzheimer's disease.

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who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. about yoplait's fall favorites. so we brought pumpkin pie and apple crisp back for a limited time. see? you really do call the shots. ♪ yoplait. it is so good. the dream and those that fought for the dream fought for everybody, whether we agree or disagree politically, we all were the recipients of the dream and must move it forward. recently, i went and talked with condoleezza rice, former secretary of state. we don't agree on much, but we found out we had a lot in common. we were born about a month apart and we talked about things that

she and i certainly had never talked before, and i never heard her say a lot of this before. condoleezza rice and i. the world knows you as condoleezza rice, former secretary of state. first black woman to be a national security adviser. but you were born and raised in alabama in birmingham, and you grew up if a segregated south. tell us about how it was growing up in birmingham. >> well, growing up in birmingham, which was clearly the most segregated big city in america, and a place that in 1962 and '63 would be calling bombingham because it was so violent. you'll remember that. it was like living in a parallel world. you were always aware that you couldn't go to a movie theater. couldn't go to a restaurant. i've said sometimes very often that my parents couldn't take me to have a hamburger at the woolworths lunch counter but had me absolutely convinced i could

be president of the united states if i wanted to be. >> you know, i was fascinated when i read you telling the story about how your father became a republican. with all of the politics i thought i knew, i never knew that story. >> in 1952, he went down to register to vote in birmingham. he was a young minister, high school athletic director. and they said to him, he went down with my mother who he was dating. they weren't yet married. and my mom, beautiful woman, and the poll tester, you'll remember poll testers, said to her, so what do you teach? she said, american history. actually she taught english. he said, so you probably know who the first president of the united states was. she said, yes. she said, george washington. he said, you pass. then my father, the poll tester said to him, pointing to a jar about this high, how many beans are in this jar? >> wow. >> now, when my dad couldn't

answer, of course, he failed the poll test. so he was very despondent about this. around his church. this elder of his,s a man named frank hunter, said, don't worry about it, i'm going to tell you how you get registered to vote. we're going to go back down there. there's a clerk down there and she's actually a republican. if you just say you're a republican, she'll register you because she wants to get as many republicans as she can. he went down. he said he was a republican. she registered him. he stayed true to his word and he was a republican the rest of his life. >> a lot of people don't know that that generation, we're in the same generation, our parents were all -- my mother and father were republicans. i think they changed to democrat when kennedy and johnson. that was the norm. >> it was the norm because the democratic party in the south -- >> was the dixiecrats. >> were the dixiecrats. >> now, you in birmingham, civil rights movement in birmingham. you actually moved some of the

four girls that were bombed at 16th street baptist church? >> i knew denise very well. denise's family was in our neighborhood. her dad was a photographer at everybody's birthday party and everybody's wedding. and i will never forget that awful day in september when 16th street baptist church was bombed. somebody called the church to say that a bomb had gone off at 16th street. we felt the explosion. >> oh, really? at your church -- >> right. my dad's church was only about two miles from 16th street baptist church so it was like the ground shook. and i remember sooner, pretty soon we were starting to hear that these little girls had been killed and then the names started to come out and, of course, everybody knew one of those little girls. and for kids in birmingham my age, i was 8, it was, you know, how could these people hate us

so much? what is this? >> your dad actually had a watchman group on the block. >> my father and his friends formed a brigade to keep the community safe. they had their shifts with their weapons out there to keep night riders out of community. i don't think they shot at anybody, but they shot their guns in the air once in a while. but that was how they protected -- you couldn't -- the police couldn't protect you. coming home one day from my grandparents' house, a bomb -- we felt a bomb go off. we heard an explosion. and my father put us back in the car and started to drive away. my mother said, where are you going? he said, i'm going to go to the police. she said, they probably set the bomb, what do you mean you're going to the police? >> wow. >> we turned around and went back to my grandparents' house. >> now, one of the things your parents pushed you and encouraged you and gave you a mentality, and one of the most

touching things i've heard lately is when you were asked by president bush to serve in washington and you said you wanted to stay and take care of your father. >> that's right. >> and your father passed and you always wondered was that his message for you to go on to washington? >> my dad, who i just loved dearly, and he was not very well from february of 2000 until november/december. and you would note that that was the period of the election and i was working for george w. bush. organizing his foreign policy. and my dad, i think, kind of waited until bush v. gore was decided. he knew in his own rather dimini diminished, mental diminished way that i was going to washington, but i said to president bush when he called me to say i want you to come and be my national security adviser, i said, i can't do it. i said i can't leave my father many this state. he's all i have and i'm all he

has. and he said, we'll work it out. you can come back every week. he was trying to work it out. couple days later, my father died. and i thought to myself, daddy, you didn't do that so i could go to washington, did you? >> wow. >> but it would have been just like him. >> once you got out of alabama, who -- were there people you looked up to that mentored you or that you used as role models? >> all along the way there were people who advocated for me. this idea that you get there on your own, none of us got there on our own. somebody was there for us. and so i say to young people, look to those people, and i say to those of us who are old enough to have made it, look back and find somebody to help. the only other thing i'll say is we love it when our role models look like us, but if i had been waiting for a black female soviet specialist role model, i'd be still waiting. >> you'd still be waiting.

>> yeah. >> against the odds of the segregated south, you took no excuses and became this world historic figure. what do you say to young people who are going to watch this? >> well, the first thing is you may not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your response to your circumstances. don't see barriers. just don't see them. but in order not to see barriers, you have got to be well educated. not everybody is as fortunate as i was to have parents who understood the system and cared. and so somebody's got to advocate for every child out there. i don't care if it's a minister or a teacher or somebody at the boys and girls club. we have a responsibility. the kids have responsibspom responsibility to work hard and not see barriers. we have a responsibility to advocate for those children. what's important to me is when i'm delivered home by my lord that there are people who

remember me for what i was able to do to bring somebody else along. people whose lives i touched. one of great things about being a professor is you have generations of students who come back and say, you may not know what an impact you had on my life. it's all about people you touch. nothing else in the final analysis is going to matter very much. >> thank you, dr. rice. >> thank you. >> that was my interview with former secretary of state condoleezza rice. i'd like to thank her for taking time and being open to speak with me about her coming up and about race. you know, about 3 1/2 years ago, i talked -- i was having a couple coffee with phil griffin and we started talking about doing something on television to show how far we've come as a country with race and then what

lays ahead. i said i'd like to do something uptown and tape something with prominent people. he said, no, live. i said, live? he said big people, think big, think huge. he said msnbc is place you have to do it. this is way before "politi "politicsnation." i'm not sure if tonight is my idea or phil's idea, but i am sure we're here, we're thinking big. msnbc is showing the world where we've come in 50 years and where we're on our way. we'll be right back. any last requests mr. baldwin? do you mind grabbing my phone and opening the capital one purchase eraser? i need to redeem some venture miles before my demise. okay. it's easy to erase any recent travel expense i want. just pick that flight right there. mmm hmmm.

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welcome back. welcome back. "advancing the dream" is about progress for all. the way forward must be broad

and inclusive. joining me now are two leaders who broke down the barriers in the business world. sally crachek who went from a junior banker to a wall street powerhouse, and lisa price, who started out as an assistant on the "cosby show" and is now owner of her own beauty and cosmetic company with sales topping $50 million. thank you both for joining me. now, we, as we talk about the dream moving forward, have to also deal with the fact that we've had gender inequality in this country, and you broke in barriers and you've had to deal with the gender inequality and gender bias and even today women still only make 77 cent for every dollar men make. how did you break through, lisa, and get from where you were,

doing assistant work on the "cosby show," to now? >> well, you know, a lot of it comes from being proa really strong family and being told from a very early age that nothing is impossible. being open and listening and pursuing your dreams and really lea learning not to listen to no. you know, no sometimes is just a temporary setback and you have to go back and learn something different to turn the no into a yes. >> so you now -- you -- sally, you came up business world, cover of "fortune" magazine, called one of the eight most prominent power brokers on wall street. and then what happened? tell your story and how you -- >> i got fired. >> we know about that. >> i shared it with everyone.

yeah, you know, look, what i would say is that women you talked about have been moving sideways for a period of time. unfortunately, on wall street, we've been moving backwards. and despite the fact that gender diversity has been shown to reduce risk, increase returns, increase client focus, increase long-term focus, increase innovation, all which i think wall street could use. what we've seen is we've actually seen a step back which is not unusual in a downturn that people sort of circle the wagons. not because they're bad people but because when we're under a lot of stress, we like being with people like ourselves. >> so what you saw was a retreat in terms of the forward movement on gender equality. >> 100%. >> and where do you see it now and what do you think needs to be done? >> well, you know, i'd love to say that, you know, and here we go. what i am happy to say is the discussion we're having here about advancing the dream and the discussion we're having about gender diversity, sheryl

sandberg, hillary clinton, condoleezza rice, ann marie slaug slaughte slaughter. we're having a moment here. i haven't seen a conversation like we're having to make people aware of these issues. i have hope. none of it happens without hard work, meritocracy, believing you can do it. it needs to be personal. the leaders of the institutions need to be embracing of it. >> lisa, you built from the bottom up. it wasn't wall street for you. it wasn't the skyscrapers. how did you get men and women in your community to believe in your dream? >> i was in my kitchen making beauty products, selling at craft fairs in my neighborhood. hiring young people in my neighborhood to come work with me in my house. it is something that's always been a part of the community and a part of my family. i'm still in brooklyn still in the same house where i starr st

cooking my products. that attachle is always going to be there. it's really about showing someone else, i don't have it all figured out. i'm a constant work in broprogr. i'm constantly learning, con stanl constantly developing. i used to work in television. it has nothing to do with beauty. pe except for long hours. but you let other people know, you have a dream, you can pursue it. you have to read, you have to research. you have to stay on top of your game. a lot of times people will ask what obstacles did you face as a woman or as an african-american? the biggest obstacle that i have ever faced is this person right here. the doubts, the negativities, the can i, should i, how do i? you have to silence that and, like, you know, like tyler was saying earlier, it's a lot of faith. it's a lot of prayer. sometimes it's other people praying for you when you can't find the words yourself. >> sally, i'm going to bring you all back. lisa, we'll bring you all back.

lisa price. a lo mot more to talk about. thank you. right now, though, we're going to take a break. more coming up. >> in our next hour, stevie wonder, cory booker and more. we'll be back live from the apollo in a moment. ♪ oreo ♪ i wonder if i gave an oreo to ♪ ♪ all the people at the high school i go to ♪ ♪ if i gave 'em to my friend in the hallway ♪ ♪ would he keep an optimistic outlook all day? ♪ ♪ and if i gave 'em to the lady on the p.a. ♪ ♪ would she take my favorite record and put it on replay? ♪ ♪ 'cause that creme does a wonderful thing ♪ ♪ when it comes to wonder filling ♪ ♪ yeah you know it's the king ♪ you can twist it, you can lick it, you can dunk it in milk ♪ ♪ yeah it's the little sandwich cookie and it's wonderfilled ♪ ♪

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we're all in this. it's not just magic johnson. >> none of us gets to where we are on our own. >> are you all with me? >> everything we do we have to use it for the good of humanity and the good of each other. >> welcome back to msnbc's special, "advancing the dream" live from the legendary apollo theater in harlem, new york city.

here's your host, the reverend al sharpton. >> welcome back. welcome back. live from the apollo. we're here tonight to honor the struggles and sacrifices of the last 50 years and to look ahead to the next 50. how do we inspire the next generation? how do we overcome the new challenges facing our communities? tonight, we're celebrating success and achievement. men and women who are helping us all advance the dream. we begin this hour with musical icon, activist, entrepreneur, stevie wonder. we first knew him as lil stevie and he became one of america's greatest artists. the first motown artist to win complete control over his own music. the result, an unprecedented explosion of creativity. ten number one albums. 25 grammy awards.

a performer with passion and a conscience. he led the push for federal holiday to honor martin luther king, dedicated his academy award to nelson mandela, prompting the apartheid regime to ban his music. and at president obama's convention in 2008, he brought the house down with a rendition of "signed, sealed, deliver." ♪ signed, sealed, delivered ladies and gentlemen, the one and only stevie wonder.

wow. stevie wonder, i mean, where do you start? you have done it all. i mean, if the dream was on two legs, it's in your body. you, from making dr. king's birthday holiday, you led the whole crusade, the fight aagainst apartheid. you sit here now as one that can say you started as a little boy, you now can look back on the dream, where it's come from, and you are still the one that is the guiding light of entertainle of where we're going for the next 50 years. what does this moment of 50 years of dr. king's dream mean to you, out of all you've done? and where do you see us going? >> well, i first have to commemorate you for your keeping the dream alive doing what you're doing.

and, you know, you've got to remember that we used to be more atrade of differen tradtrade trn we are today. i'm very happy you've invited me to come and be a part of the celebration of the dream moving forward, but obviously we have so much more to do, and so i think that as happy and excited as i am about what has happened, i am so eager to see us move forward and do the things that we still have yet to accomplish. we need people to lead, to get out front on big issues, and not to be afraid. to be bold. to be courageous. >> you know, i look at you, you've performed on this stage since you were a child. >> i was looking around seeing if there was anybody i knew in the audience.

my own little girlfriends back in the day. you look almost the same, stevie. >> well, aside from all that, stevie. yet you never -- you dealt with not only race, you never dealt with the fact that you had the handicaps to deal with. i mean, if anybody believed it was you, how did you get that faith? what gave you -- your mother and others i've read went through things and you were able to rise and make it. what gave you that strength and that determination, stevie? >> i made dr. king's dream my own. before we even say that, god has always been the purpose for me knowing and believing that there's nothing in life bigger than life. god is bigger than life, and so

in life -- [ applause ] -- we just have to do great things. we just have to believe and know that nothing incredible is impossible. >> you have seen movements all over the world and have participated, but you've also set a rhythm to them with music. what is your hope that you would see in the entertainment world reflecting now going forward? i know you're passionate about education. you're passionate about things that cross our differences that we all need. what do you -- what would you like to see entertainers inspire in the forward 50 years that we're going into now? >> you know, the thing about life is i could say absolutely nothing because i think that life, itself, will give the

entertainer what they will need to do. i think that if artists really care about what's happening to the youth, if artists really care about what's happening with gun violence, if an artist really cares about what we need to do to make a difference with what is not happening and how many people that are against some sort of gun control. if we really commit ourselves as artists to confront, to write, to talk about, to deal with those things. you know, when i talked about stand for peace, not your ground, i mean, the reality is when you look back at dr. king, he was a student of gandhi who believed in peace and a place to

make a difference nonviolently. so we're celebrating 50 years, 50 years after this very thing. and i was just thinking it's amazing because i only feel like i'm about 17, but the thing about it is, i just remember that i was given my first award here at the apollo 50 years ago when i was 13 years of age by paul newman. >> wow. right here at the apollo, you were given your first award. >> i want artists to remember the dream and dream their dream. i think that, you know, we have to embrace each other. we have to embrace the artist. and parents, you have to be more aware of what your children are listening to and what they're feeling. and you have to listen to what

they're saying and correct them in the place where they're wrong, encourage them in a place where they're right. >> as you grew in your career and grew in being this great force of consciousness, what mentored you? who were the ones that were important to you? what made stevie wonder stevie wonder? >> well, you know, as a little kid, my mama's belt, you know. you know. that had a lot to do with it, you know, because i was a little bad little blind kid. i did things. i tried to do all the things kids would do. there was a thing where you make these wax hands. so, you know, it was very dangerous, but i was, like, challenged to also be a part of that. she came in the scene when i was trying to put my hand in the wax, and, you know, she wrapped

me up in her arms and took me home. i got the belt. got the whooping. you know. lula may had high standards, and she wanted me to be independent but not irresponsible. >> wow. i'm going to leave it right there until we do the panel. thank you, stevie. we're going to come back with the panel. straight ahead. stevie will be with us again. stevie wonder, you all. >> coming up, cory booker on advancing the dream in politics. and stevie, tyler, and magic back on stage together on moving forward, when "advancing the dream" returns.

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we cannot walk alone a this moment in this election. we must pledge once more to march into the future. let us keep that promise, that american promise. and in the words of scripture, hold firmly without wavering to the hope that we confess. thank you. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. >> that was then-senator barack

obama at the democratic convention in 2008 looking forward to the future and blazing a trail for an entire generation of african-american political leaders that includes one of the nation's rising stars. cory booker. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome cory booker to the apollo. ♪ >> mr. mayor -- >> i just need to stop for a second, please. i never thought i would be sitting here at the apollo theater. this is amazing for me. i'd stay up late when i was growing up, the a apollo

theater -- i stayed up watching the act. it's a historic place that we're here. >> we've had a few good ones tonight. >> amen. amen. >> let me go back. a lot of us know you in the political headlines, but you were raised by a mother and father. your father by a single mother. and not long after you were born, they faced housing discrimination in washington, d.c. >> well, it was actually they really rode the wave and were a part of the '60s civil rights movement at the time lots of people were opening up doors. i know i am where i am right now because of this profound conspiracy of love going on that gave my family opportunities that blacks didn't have at that point. both my parents thanks to work of the urban league became a part of a wave of african-americans entering ibm and other corporations for the first time. >> the urban league opened those doors. the head of the national urban league, marc moriel is with us here tonight. >> i can never forget. these historic organizations. so when my parents got a

promotion to northern new jersey, they immediately fell smack into the housing discrimination going on at the time. where real estate agents wouldn't show them homes in white neighborhoods. so my parents then joined together with another traditional organization, the fair housing council, where blacks and whites had come together with the idea they could break housing segregation in new jersey in 1969. my parents became part of a sting operation. eventually after a big altercation when my father's lawyer was literally punched by the real estate agent when he found it in some legal going back and forth, we eventually became the first black family to integrate a neighborhood in northern new jersey in 1969. >> you then went -- that's an amazing story. then you grew up, you went to stanford then on to yale, but then you decided to go to newark. i mean, you could have written your ticket on wall street --

>> be careful now. you don't talk about newark that way. i mean, i mean -- >> i don't mean tit is a bad thing. >> thank you. >> i mean other than going -- i'm not running for nothing, you all. rather than going somewhere in the private sector and making money, you actually moved into a housing development and started working on the ground in newark with all of that background. why? >> look, my father, mother, raised me with a sense that i am who i am because of the sacrifices and struggles of others. that i can't just consume all these blessings i received and get dumb, fat and happy on my own thinking i'm who i am because of me. i'm part of a larger historical movement to make country live up to its highest aspirations, highest ideals. so for me, my heroes were people like when i was going through

college, those focusing on children. jeffrey canada is who i aspired to live like. i moved to newark an martin luther king boulevard. the man who stood for nonviolences on that intersection, high and spruce, was one of the most dangerous intersections in all of new jersey at the time. i wanted to be there because i wanted to be a part of really great people. of dignity, of worth who were on the front lines of the fight to make america be america. >> now, you say about that movement, then you were talked into going into politics, city council, then may wror and aspig now to the u.s. senate. where do you see going forward that political movement? black politics has expanded and changed. we have congressman charlie rangel here with us tonight. one of the real legends and trail blazers that brought us this far. where do you see us going

politically in the next 50 years? where do we need to be going? >> we need to get out of the idea that politics is the end. that just putting people in office is what we should be aspiring for. the end ultimately is about our own communities and our neighborhoods and how are we as a country living up to this ideal that no child, every child born in america, no matter where you're born, should have an equal shot at making. so what i'm hoping is our politics as we continue to evolve doesn't simply lie within a sector bullt we all in americ realize if we have the grace and the blessing to call ourselves an american, then we, too, must be involved in politics. and it is a political action in and of itself to remoouve yoursf from the process. look, i know the power of the people is always greater than the people in power, but yet because of -- [ applause ] -- the way we view politics now it's becoming more and more of a spectator sport. >> right. >> where you just sit on the sidelines and root for your

team, red or blue and see how they're doing. that's just not how it should work. democracy demands action, engagement and involvement from all of our citizenry. the only reason we have the vicious challenges we face now, stratification of income, an incarceration nation, putting more people in prison than any other country on the globe per capita. the only reason why we have massive and increasing child poverty in america is not because we do not have capacity to do something about it, we can. in fact, american history is a screaming testimony to the perpetual achievement of the impossible. we're a people who can do anything. it's not a matter of can we deal with the problems but do we have the collective will? real leadership is not people that stand up and say, hey, follow me, vote for me. that's not leadership to me. leadership is the kind of people that inspire others to understand that they, too, are leaders and must lead. >> as you talk about leadership, somebody that is watching and

maybe have doubts, have you ever in this rise, we see cory booker doing all kinds of great things, but have you ever faced a situation where it just broke you, you felt like i'm not going to be able to get through this? have you ever felt you stumbled, doubted yourself? did you ever have to fight through some of the times you questioned yourself? >> look, you know, cornell west talks about us being a blues nation, and the problem you turn on the tv set and our politics and our politicians often aren't even talking about the issues that americans are dealing with every single day. so, you know, just the night before last we had a 14-year-old murdered in newark. >> right. >> what led me to this story is worse. he had been arrested four, five times before. first time when he was 12. we went into his apartment and found about 30 bricks of heroin and a loaded gun in his bedroom. >> 14 years old. >> 14 years old.

his mom was living in same apartment. and so you ask me when do you get broken? if we are a nation, and i have to say this and it's controversial, because what happened in connecticut broke me. i watched tv and went. but i also then worried about my nation when i saw this national outpouring of outrage. where is that outrage when children are dying in our cities every single day? and so -- and so if we've gotten to a point in america where we are not broken by the savage death of a child, where we don't feel wounded by the loss of a kid that at 12 years old is getting arrested, if we do not know and are connected to that point, then we are losing the soul of our nation. and my prayer is that from our politics, to our music, to our art, to our media, that we

resurrect this idea in this country that we are all in together and we need each other. >> we have to go. thank you. newark mayor, cory booker. that was good. thank you. we'll be right back. coming up, magic johnson, tyler perry and stevie wonder back on stage together. president obama was on this stage last year and surprised us. all of us with this. ♪ i'm so in love with you

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welcome back to "advancing the dream." i'm standing here with the intellectual, social intellectual of our time dr. michael eric dyson. people don't know your story. my colleague here, contributor to msnbc. i wanted to just take a quick minute. tell them your story. you wasn't always the -- of our time. >> i grew up in the ghetto of detroit. my father was an automobile factory worker. my mother worked inned public schools. we struggled. we hustled. i began to speak in public at

the age of 10. as a result of that, i got released from some of that struggle. joined a gang later on. me and my brother. after that, went out to a prestigious secondary school. got kicked out, came back and went to night school. became a teen father. hustled on the street for three years. lived on welfare. then went to college at 21. and as a result of that, you know, i saw my brother suffer as well. my brother who's been in prison now for 24 years. >> your brother. >> my brother. that's right. accu accused of murder. we believe he's innocent. the reality was he was enthralled by the vicarious pleasures of street pharmaceuticals. so he was engaged in -- he slung drugs. as a result of that, we went two different ways. as a kid i was called professor and as a kid he was seen as somebody who might not live up to his potential, so one became a professor, one became a prisoner, but we come from the same woman of love that nurtured us. >> so you went to princeton. >> right.

>> eventually after falling down, picked yourself -- your brother went to prison. what made the choices different, do you think? >> well, he's equally as bright, but opportunities prevail. first of all, the light versus dark thing. we don't have time to deconstruct that. secondly, what happened is he fell on hard times and as a result of the difficulties that he and doendured, he made self-destructive choices that he would acknowledge now. i had jesus, jobs and justice. the transformative experience of a god who placed in my life people who helped me out, you know, you could say it as a coincidence, but einstein said coincidence is god's way of remai remaining anonymous. those people helped me transform. secondly, i had a job. a program that allowed young people to get a swrjob. what does it mean to get up every day and go to work? i don't damn young people to have low-slung draws. raise up their dreams and their

dr draws will follow. thirdly, justice, you, martin luther king, jesse jackson, made a tremendous difference, ella baker in terms of transforming this nation. without that justice, i wouldn't be able to have this. >> we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is claira.

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he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com welcome back to the apollo. this stage has seen a lot of great ensemble groups but we've never seen anything quite like this. magic johnson, tyler perry and

stevie wonder all together on the same stage at the same time. i mean, this is -- it's live all over country on msnbc. >> i was just thinking all these people here, i can ask all of you how you all can get me a job. i've always wanted to be a ballplayer. >> and we always wan ewanted to, see? >> you all could just cross, do it for each other. let me ask you something, though. when people are seeing all this success, clearly all of it a result of the movement, and then the obligation that all of you all have said tonight that we have to continue and whether it's in business, whether it's in artistry, whether it's in cinema and business. and, let me ask you something. the kid watching this, whether he be white, she be latino, he

be african-american, saying that's them, not me. give me the hardest thing you had to overcome to really turn yourself around. i'm talking about something personal. i'm not talking about the "i have a dream" speech. i'm talking about me, imaginema tyler, me stevie. what did you have to deal with that was the turning point for you that you almost could have gone wrong but it kind of shook you and made you realize this is what i want to do? >> well, i think for me it was more everybody put me in a category as the dumb jock. when i first tried to get into business, tim banks turned me down. they loved the autograph. they loved me coming to dinner or lunch with them, but they didn't think i was smart enough or had the knowledge to really run a business or have an equity fund or a real estate fund.

and so everybody thinks that oh, because i'm magic johnson, i had it easy. well, i had it difficult because to build those theaters down the street and the starbucks, i had to do it with my own money until i had a track record of success. then they looked up and said, oh, i guess he does know business. now i will invest with him. but i think that we all have to overcome something and then make no mistake about it, all four of us had to put in a lot of work. if i was telling a young person anything, first of all, your work ethic has to be off the chart. then what is your niche, okay? what is it that you're passionate about that's going to wake you up in the morning? see, the money, the check is not going to wake you up. that's not going to wake you up. it's your love and passion for what you do. that's what wakes you up. so they have to find something

that they love and then put the time in and the effort into it and then sacrifice the video game, sacrifice the party, the club. see, i made great sacrifices to be at the top of my game in basketball. when i first met cookie, the first date we had, i had a robert hall three-piece suit. it was reversible because it's two suits in one. and i took her out in that robert hall special. so when we went to dinner, i got back to the dorm. i said go put your warmup on. she said, okay. i went and put my warmup on. i took her to the basketball court. 12:00 midnight. we shooting hoops. i say, i'm going to shoot, you're going to rebound. that's when i knew -- >> you put her to work. >> -- that she was the right one. and so -- >> wow. >> but that's what i'm talking about. i was shooting hoop at 3:00 in

the morning. so kids got to understand, they got to make sacrifices. they got to put the work in. >> tyler? >> yeah, for me, my greatest thing to overcome was my mind because i was born into this situation. i was born into poverty. i was born into what i saw every day. but, and everybody around me would tell me, this is it, this is your life. this is all you will ever be. you will never be any higher than this. you would never two ago any fur than this. once i began to understand the dream i had was taking on a life of its own, i had to get my mind to catch up with the dream, because i literally lived -- two blocks in front of where i walked out of my front door, two blocks in front of the house i lived in there were mansions that lined st. charles avenue. two blocks behind me i had to go to school. i had to walk through the graveyard, through the projects to get to school. i wanted what is is in front of me. my mother said, can't do that,

don't be here, be in the house at night. don't stand over there. there's white folks over there, don't go over there. ts it was where they come from. being a child, hearing all of that, it was my mind. the thing that helped me to get it was one three little letters. "why." i'd ask my mother, "why?" because you're poor. why can't you do that? because you're black. sn none of those things made sense to me. once i was able to bring my mind under captivity, everything else fell into place. i don't care how many kids are watching right now, i was there where you are. i was there with the bologna sandwiches trying to get butter and the rice together to have dinner. i know what that's like. so to have that and know that there is a vision, and sometimes you have to take your dream and hide it in your coat, close to your heart so that the people around you don't tear it apart. so have your dream, hold on to it and just as magic said, you have to work at it.

sacrifice. i'm still sacrificing to this day. i've laid so much aside just so that the work could be there and that's why if we cannot only be successful, but carry so many others with us, you know, the hundreds of people that work for me. i have their dreams and their children's dreams and their -- all of that on their backs, i'm carrying it with them. we're pulling it together. it's a wonderful thing. it is getting over your mind. >> stevie wonder? stevie wonder. [ applause ] >> well, for me, any and everyone's greatest doubt was my most wonderful blessing. and when i say that, i say it still for us today. when we talk about our successes, as men and as women of african-american descent and

various people considered minority. when a person looks at you and says you can't because of the color of your skin, well i can't relate to that because i've never seen any color, anyway. so for me, so for me, when that teacher who was seeing it from her heart, from bottom of her heart, you know, you have to do this because you've got three strikes against you. you're black, you're blind, and you're poor. well, you know, those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches tasted kind of good to me, and the whole thing of being blind, i've never seen, so i never understood what blind really meant. well, black, even today, in the society, it seems to me people

who are prejudice based on one's color or ethnicity, it seems like they have a sickness that, you know, they need to get rid of, get over it, get it so, so my dreams could never be dashed by someone's illness. it will never be dashed by someone's illness. and please, i say this to americans of all ethnicities. don't let the incredible potential of us being truly the greatest nation of the world be dashed by your sickness. don't do it. >> we'll be back with a lot more right after this. stay with us. ♪ [ male announcer ] staying warm and dry has never been our priority. our priority is, was and always will be

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♪ welcome back. welcome back. well, our panel is growing. in our last few minutes we're joined now by one of pioneering businessmen on wall street, ron blalock. glad to have you on. >> thank you, reverend. >> ron, you heard magic johnson talking about the difficulties of business, ten banks turning him down and he's magic johnson. how was it for you and other businessmen that have tried to in these years that the dream was trying to be realized, go into business and develop business as a minority even on wall street? >> as earvin said, it's very difficult. a lot of setbacks. a lot of nos.

but there's always a yes at the end of the day. particularly if you develop a skill and a product and you can provide solutions to people, you can add value and people will take that at some point and you just have to stick to that mission. >> you know, i want to ask the panel a question, as we try to bring this to a close. two weeks ago, we stood in washington and we talked about 50 years since dr. king said "i have a dream." and couple hundred thousand people marched that saturday. marc moriel, reverend w. franklin richardson. all of us leading talking about we have to keep voting rights, we have to fight for jobs. 50 years from now, what do you hope they can say, standing there, that we've done in the 50 years that we've been out front and we've been the models that people are looking for? what are the things that we ought to be focused on?

>> i think, reverend, you know, when you think about, it's always got to be about economic development. it's got to be about us owning more businesses within our -- in our own community. i think reverend sharpton, we have to be about making sure we own our own businesses and we put our own people to work. because if we come back and it's still the same thing, we're not going to advance. so, so if we own our own businesses in harlem or south-central l.a. and so on,s that means more of our young people will have jobs and opportunity, and i think that's really what's important. so it's, i think in the 6'60s they were saying we almost owned more businesses than we own today. we have to get back to owning bi businesses in our own community and put people to work. >> anybody else? >> i believe that -- i believe that we have to own communication. communication is very important.

we have to be able to have more stations owned by people of color. and i believe that we have to allow this to be very, very important in the scheme of just life and information. you -- you can't know the story if you don't hear the story. and i commemorate msnbc for what they've done tonight. it's a great thing. [ applause ] but we have to do that. i know that. i own a radio station. >> yeah, you do. >> we talk about your films. i've seen a few of them, too.

but we keep it real. we keep it honest. you know, one is not enough. just a couple or a few is not enough. and i think if i may say one other thing, we really have tos other thing, we really have to confront the educational system. everyone -- everyone -- every single american must feel and know they were a part of this united states. so i think that books have to be rewritten, the whole notion of changing what happened, during slavery times -- saying it is a fantasy, is unacceptable. i just think we have to really, really keep it real. and i love you all in texas. i really do. so don't feel offended. but i just think that we can't

act like something that truly happened didn't happen. it is real. confront it. deal with it. and make the difference by changing it. >> as i look 50 years from now, sitting here today, business and capitalism has a problem. and i am hopeful that if we look away 50 years that we can look away from justi focusing on the shareholders and the communities, and realize that you can do good at the same time. but that our business leaders should really begin to embrace the true democracy where people get ahead because of hard work, not because of the color of their skin or because of their gender. >> it is very important for young people if we're going to grow. and just people in managing their careers and their lives, whether you're 50 or 20.

the educator said the key is to be able to sacrifice who you are for what you can become. the key is to be able to sacrifice who you are for what you can become. and if you think of that, you won't stand still. you won't stand still. you will take on entrepreneurs, you will take on risks. you will challenge yourself to be better and to control your own economic destiny. >> you know, i'm very hopeful that just 50 years ago was just a much different place, and 50 years from now it will be a much different place. my friend was dropping his son off at school, and he said that is my friend. and my friend who is my age, he said which kid? and his child was -- looked at him like what are you talking about? he didn't see any race at all. so what i'm hoping that as we

continue to celebrate our strengths and our diversities and how strong we are, we also become more open to everyone being all a part of what america should be. and just an equal opportunity place for all. so that is what i'm hoping that. >> cory booker. >> well, i think we have to have the courage to tell the truth. we have been having this conversation for decades, and unfortunately, the trends are going in the wrong direction, social mobility has declined dramatically. my father was born in 1936, growing up in the '50s, had more of a chance to make it in many ways than we see now. and the way to break it, if we continue to see things over and over again we'll get the same result. we are a country now far more comfortable spending hundreds of billions of dollars for failure, prison, hospitals, you name it. and investing that money in what actually works.

and so we need to start to frame the conversation not in a right/left way, because that gets us nowhere in america. and all of america, we all do better when we all do better. >> for me, the most important difference that i want to see in 50 years is not that we have forgotten this story. but that the story is still not the same story being told. so i don't want anyone to ever forget emmet till, i don't want anyone to ever forget trayvon martin. but i don't want another one to occur. and for that to be the reasons we have a conversation. so i want my children to tell their children a story about how things used to be. and this is how you behave. not because you have to behave because things are still this way. >> wow, you know, there is a song -- that i hope we can sing, and the song i hope that we can sing, changing the lyric a

little bit but maybe it will have been written by them, which is "we have overcome ♪ we have overcome ♪ today whoa deep in my heart ♪ we do believe that we have overcome today ♪ >> let me say -- [ cheers and applause ] >> and let me say. let me say that as we -- as a question, remember the dream as i stood there at lincoln memorial. and the 50th anniversary of dr. king's speech. the executive director asked me,

why are you so melancholy, i thought about how we still face problems. but i thought about how 50 years ago they came to washington on the back of buses. couldn't stop at a restaurant. could not vote in most states. and we came back 50 years later. there was a black president in the white house. we did what they couldn't imagine. i intend to fight every day of my life until 50 years from now things are happening that i couldn't even imagine have happened. that is when we know that we leaned forward and made the dream advance. when beyond our wildest dreams things can happen, and if we get up every day determined to make that happen and know that everything we see is a residential of some dreamer, that changed reality and that is what we must do. thank you for being here tonight. thank you for watching. and thank you for dreaming.

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