♪ 'cause the rhyme is the reason ♪ ♪ break through, man, it doesn't matter who you're talking to ♪ [ male announcer ] completely redesigned for whatever you love to do. the all-new nissan versa note. your door to more. ♪ ♪ >> i've seen the promised land. i may not get there with you. but i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. >> the words that pushed forward for that dream of equality. and today, the signs of progress are everywhere. >> i promise you, we as a people will get there, the stage 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 and cory booker, it is a night to celebrate the promise and look towards the future. >> this is an msnbc special, "advancing the dream." live from the world famous apollo theater. here is your host the reverend al sharpton. >> thank you, thank you.

thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. it is great to be back here at the apollo tonight. and we'll celebrate where we have been and where we are going. and what a better place to talk about advancing the dream than from this state, 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 is how things happened on this stage. people just learned to survive. and learned 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 risks and disciplined themselves. yes, doors were opened by the dream generation. but it is 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 to deliver and to perform and to excel through those doors, means we will never get to where dr. king envisioned for us if we don't keep those

doors opened. you know there is so much magic on the stage, so tonight, we thought we would start with some magic, watch. he is a symbol of hope irvin johnson is known simply as magic. for the awe-inspiring feats he pulled off in that laker's uniform. but in 1991, he shocked the sports world. >> because of 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 is not just magic johnson, it is everybody. >> then it was a fast break into the business world. and a focus on rejuvenating urban communities.

he developed movie theaters coffee shops, and restaurants. he became the first owner of a major league baseball team. happens to be jackie robinson's dodgers. he lived the dream and spent a lifetime advancing it for others. on a night we celebrate progress here at the poloapollo it is only fitting that we celebrate with the man who brought us "show time." >> ladies and gentlemen, the one and only irvin "magic" johnson. >> good to see you, magic.

>> oh, man, god, it is so good. you doing this show. this is beautiful, bringing it here to harlem apollo and so you're doing some great things. so we need a show like this to help the 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 jr.'s speech "i have a dream." a couple hundred thousand of us marched and will continue the dream. the other groups urban league. but in order to do that we have to also be prepared. and we also have to 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 a businessman in the community, and you were supposed to sit behind the desk and dream. >> well, you know i grew up in lansing, michigan, my father worked for general motors for 30 years. and my mom worked at a school cafeteria. and i didn't know that black folks could own businesses. so there were two business owners who owned buildings and dealership dealerships. and i was like i want to be like them. and i got bold one day and said look, i want to be like you guys. and will you give me a job and mentor me? and they decided to mentor me. and the first thing they did was gave me a job to clean the office building that had seven floors. so i was about 15 16 years old. i would go clean about six

floors. but on the seventh floor, that was where the ceo's office was. so i would bust in and pretend like i was studentthe ceo. so i would put my feet on the desk. >> you actually played it out? >> reverend for hours. yes. so i hit that intercom button and said aisha, will you bring me coffee and donuts. so i would pretend that aisha would come in and bring me the day's paper and the donuts and that sort of thing. and i was pretending i was bossing people around 35 years ago or so -- >> and aisha does bring the coffee. >> all right so you get -- you're in that school. now, your parents came from the south. you were from the north like i was. we didn't know that much about

segregation, but our parents did. i read when you talked about when you went south, you would pack a lunch because you didn't know if a restaurant -- on the way down you didn't know if you stopped at a restaurant whether they would feed you or not. >> that is right, so we would go from michigan all the way down to north carolina. because that was our summer vacation. so you went to work with your cousins on the farms in their summer. so we always packed our lunch and dinner in the car. and as we made the 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. so the guy comes out, boy, what you want? and i started to get up. my dad held me down like -- you don't understand he just don't know no better. and i said he can't be calling me no boy, dad. and he said 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 sometimes when we go certain places they're so used to doing things a certain way that even with all of 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. >> and so my whole thing is this, i grew up poor but i didn't have poor dreams. so i think that is really what it is 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, 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 it onto our kids. and then also go into the community that we live in and

own our business and then put our people to work. now, that is what i have been about my whole career. >> let me ask you something. i want to get into that. but i want to ask you this. you had been in athletics, you were magic, winning championships, legend and then you came and told the world that you had to fight this virus. and some of the people shunned you. and you fought back. i mean because there are so many people that disproportionately in our community, people watching tonight, that something came in and knocked them off their stride. how did you do that? you were a pro basketball player and champion and known all over the world. and you had gotten knocked down and got up. how did you do that? >> well number one, 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 the medicine could help me. and then my beautiful wife decided to stay with me. so she could have left. and i told her that. you know but she decided to stay with me. and the first thing she said was, 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 true blessing. and once i found out they were going to be okay it gave me the strength to carry on and do and live and do what i have to do. look just because you get knocked down don't mean you lay down there. you can get up and still continue your life. this is what happened to me. i was upset, i was 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 said get out. so 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 i was feeling so sorry for myself she said irvin, you had dreams to be a businessman. okay, let's start living your dream out. let's start building some strategy so that you can become a businessman. that got me moving and got me going. so i owe a lot of this to cookie and to god, because both of them just blessed me. >> now, you built this business. and most of the 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 businesses all kinds of businesses. and now, you know, when my mother and father were coming

up it was big jackie robinson played 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, i always wanted to be a businessman. and i always wanted to effect change in our community. and so i said you know what? when i made this money i didn't want to be like everybody else who was blowing their money on material things. i wanted to go into the community and make sure that i made a difference. and so when i built the theater right down the block here, it was for our people so that they could go have a good time watch a first run movie, take their family and still be able to make sure 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. you 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 know you go into the barber shop the hair salon, everybody runs their mouth on how they want to do it. nothing gets done. i am not like that. i am a guy of action and want to make sure they understand that we can do this. and so when i built these businesses, it was more for not only myself rngs, i wanted to open the door for the african-americans, and the entertainers they have to understand somebody helped me get here. i didn't get here by myself. somebody told me boy, you can't go down that road. or no if you do something wrong i'm going to call your parents. so the village raised me. and so i got to go back now and give back because somebody helped me. and these athletes and entertainers, they got to understand, look you're not going to be doing this forever.

so you got to take care of your money and hopefully you will invest it in the same community that helps you get to where you are. >> well, let me say you also give a lot of bragging rights. you know i took our daughters out one night to the magic johnson theater, out in california, i took them somewhere else you owned something. i said i know him. i dialled you, but i got voice mail. magic, we're going to bring you back in a minute. don't go nowhere. thank you so much. magic johnson. >> my parents couldn't take me to have a hamburger at the wool worth's lunch counter, but had me convinced i could be the president of the united states. >> that is all coming up.

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>> welcome back to "advancing the dream," live from apollo here is 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 tyson, tyler perry. tyler perry is one of hollywood's leading men. and i guess you can see women. >> hallelujah. >> yes, his portrayal of the loving senior citizen exploded on the national scene in "diary of a mad black woman." the movie was a hit and opened the doors to african-americans in show business. from there, tyler blazed the trail for black entertainers becoming the first black entertainer to launch his media and studio films. and in an exclusive production with oprah winfrey. but it is really his own miracle story of hope and determination. that is 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 that to whom much is given, much is required. so we have to have a responsibility of what we do for ourselves and what we do for others. >> ladies, please help me welcome tyler perry. >> wait -- >> now, for people that don't know, and obviously, you do because you worked 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. though, that chris matthews and i do it every night. but -- 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. >> and you have a -- 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 to tell us about how you dealt with this childhood. because maybe people watching think that you have got to have a certain pedigree and a certain background in order to do something. and you went past all of them

dealing not only with the problem of race but class, inside of our race. and you still busted through. >> well, i appreciate that reverend i tell you, for me we talked about where we were coming from. i told my sister before this i was going to do this advancing the dream. and we talked about my great-grandfather, he was very old, laying in the bed. and i was visiting my grandmother in rural louisiana. and he either was born right at the emancipation proclamation, but we don't know but understanding that my parents grew up in rural louisiana and the jim crow pathology, and i remember watching "mississippi burning" with my mother and she

jumps up from the sofa, screaming and yelling. and i didn't understand it. i understand the history of where i come from. and i feel like when you understand the history, i think that is the problem with a lot of our young people. we are so busy trying to get away from where we come from that a we don't know who we are. 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 a table. you know i live in a house in georgia, i'll tell to story really quick. i was sued a few years ago by this gentleman who i bought this property in georgia, tore down the house. i find out i'm being sued. i show up in court. it is the guy who is 90 years old. he was suing me for tearing down the house. so he had owned the house in a

malpractice lawsuit. i researched the history on him. i found out that he had argued the merits of segregation all the way up to the supreme court against thurgood marshal. >> the man that sued you? >> the man that sued me. the man that owned the property that i now own. so i'm sitting there having this conversation and telling friends there, oprah is there, john louis is there. he has tears in his eyes. he said i am 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 significance of that every morning. i get chills thinking about it. i wake up open the curtains and i realize the shift of what god has done you know for so many of us. for so many of us. >> you had endured child abuse. you then tried to go into -- you

got the idea watching oprah of starting to write down things. tell us how this seed was planned. because i think oprah doesn't get a lot of credit for a lot of inspiring that she has done. >> listen if i hadn't seen that show. first of all, i saw this woman on television every day that looked like me my aunt or cousins. you know for the first time. she said it was cathartic, and i had barely graduated. i had to look up to see what it meant. so i started writing all the stories. i didn't want people to know i went through different things that i went through. so i used different characters. i couldn't afford to go to theaters, so i would wait until intermission when a show would be in town. when all the smokers came out, i

snuck back in -- that is why so many people think my movies are incomplete. i only saw the second act of most shows. but what -- having all of that having the inspiration from her, and then having the opportunity and the wherewithal to just go for it. to me it is my faith. i'm so grateful to my mother she didn't have millions a legacy to leave. she took me to church and taught me about god and faith. and that is the thing that sustained me through her death. >> now, you feel that it is that that kept you from going down the bad roads because you could have easily just become -- just surrendered to the temptations of just -- i'm not going to be anything going through all of these difficulties and challengingsechallenges. what made you choose to be

something different? >> well, if you looked at hurricane katrina, i think it blew the roof off the poverty, that kind of life. and it was my mother and the people on the block and corner who kept all the kids straight. you know and what i do is this. it is such celebration, i promise you. 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 and the prayers of my mother and my grandmother, my great-grandmother, my great-grandfather. it was the prayers of all of these people that brought me to this place. absolutely, i feel it every day. so i think we all have a responsibility, when you have been given this and you have 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 change -- i'm not judging anybody, but i understand what is behind me. and i can't look at that amount of pain. a i can't look at that amount of pain they suffered and what they paid. and talk about yo yo yo bud, what is happening? so conjugate a verb if you do that, you impress me. i think if we knew where we came from and what we have endured, i think it would change a great deal. >> you -- let me just ask you this quickly. when you went to hollywood, you were already a superstar with us. you said when you first went out, you didn't know who they were. >> listen i didn't go in with

-- i may have come 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 could not walk down the street. i could send an e-mail and send out from the beacon to this place, and got to hollywood, they said who are you, what have you done? it is such a small world. listen it is a great machine, but it is a small machine, which is a huge machine with so much power. i was not offended by it i just said i'll do it to dvd like everything else and then it will be okay. then i got a call he said come let's have a conversation about this. and by then i had an attitude i said you're going to do this you're going to do that. and at the end of the conversation, i heard okay we'll do that. >> we're going to bring you back. >> it was that quick -- >> no you are not finished.

i'm going to bring you back later. and i got some movie ideas for you. >> here we go. >> cameron hall you know we got a little thing we can do. we'll be right back. tyler perry, thank you.

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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, the feeling has not only been historic it is personal to many of us who grew up in new york. i was raised by a single mother but the memory i had by my father before he left, was the memory where he used to bring us to apollo. we got to stand in long lines, and he would bring me to see james brown. little did i know i would grow

into my teens working in the civil rights and i would meet a young man named teddy, who came to new york. his name was james brown, he adopted me and became the father that left me. i spent many nights standing in the wings, watching him do magic on this stage. i know the night that my physical father was somewhere watching the show and my godfather, smiling, i brought you to the apollo. at you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above.

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and unusual dreams. if i could describe being a nonsmoker, i would say "awesome." [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. you work. and you want to get an mba. but going back to school is hard... because you work. now, capella university offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. it's called flexpath and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know so you can get a degree at your pace. and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university learn more at capella.edu >> 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 the former secretary of state. we don't agree on much. but we found we have a lot in common. we were born a month apart, and we talked about things that certainly she and i never talked about before. and i never heard her say 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 in 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 3 would be called bombingham, because it was so violent. it was like living in a parallel world. you were always aware that you

could not go to a movie theater. couldn't go to a restaurant. i said sometimes, very often, that my parents couldn't take me to have a hamburger at the woolworth's lunch counter, but they had me absolutely convinced that i could be president of the united states if i wanted to be. >> you know i was fascinated you told the story about how your father became a republican with all the politics i knew, i never knew that story. >> he went down to vote in birmingham, and they said to him -- he went down with my mother who he was dating. they were not yet married. and my mom, the beautiful woman. and the poll tester you will remember, poll testers, said to her, what do you teach? she said american history. he said so you probably know who the first president of the united states was. she said yes, george washington. he said you pass. and then my father big, tall

dark skinned man rather imposing, the poll tester said to him, pointing to a jar this high how many beans are in this jar, now, when my dad couldn't answer, of course he failed the poll test. he was upset about this went around his church. this elder, a man named frank hunter said reverend don't you worry about it. i'll tell you how you get registered to vote. we'll go down there, there is a clerk down there, and she is actually a republican. and if you will just say you are a republican she will register you, because she wants to get as many republicans as she can. 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. >> and a lot of people don't know, that generation, how parents were. my mother and father were republicans. i think they changed democrat when kennedy was there. it was the norm.

>> it was the norm because the democratic party in the south were the dixiecrats. >> now you in birmingham you actually knew some of the four girls that were bombed at the 16th street -- >> i knew denise mcnair very well. her family was in our neighborhood. her dad was a photographer at everybody's birthday partyies. 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 that the explosion -- >> really? >> my dad's church was only about two miles from 16th street baptist church and so it was like the ground shook. and i remember 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, of my age, i was eight. it was you know how could these people hate us so much? what is this? >> well 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 shift to keep night riders away from everybody. i don't think they actually shot anybody, but shot their guns in the air. the police couldn't protect you. coming home one day from my grandparent's 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. and my mother said where are you going? and he said i'm going to go to the police. and she said they probably set the bomb. what do you mean you're going to the police.

and we turned around and went back to my grandparent's house. >> now, one of the things your parents pushed you and encouraged you and gave you the mentality. one of the most touching things i heard lately when you were asked by president bush to serve in washington and you said you wanted to stay and take care of your father. and your father passed. was that his message to go on to washington? >> my dad, who i just loved dearly. 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 wait waited until bush v. gore was decided. he knew in his rather 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 in national security adviser. i said i can't do it. i can't leave my father in this state. he is 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. a couple of days later. my father died. and i thought to myself, daddy, you didn't do that so i could go to washington did you? but it would have been just like him. >> once you got out of alabama, who -- were there people you looked up to that mentor eded 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 for those people. and i say to those of us who are old enough to have made it look back and find somebody to help.

and the 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 role model, i would still be waiting. >> you would still be waiting. >> against the odds of the segregated south, you took no excuses and became this stark 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. 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 has got to advocate for every child out there. i don't care if it is the minister or a teacher or somebody at the boy's and girl's club. we have a responsibility. the kids have a responsibility to work hard and not to see

barriers. but we have a responsibility to advocate for those children. what is important to me is that when i am 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 the great things about being a professor is that you have generations of students who come back and say, you know, you may not know what an impact you had on my life. it is all about the people you touched. nothing else in the final analysis doesn't matter very much. >> thank you dr. rice. >> thank you. >> that was my interview with former secretary of state condoleeza rice i would like to thank her for taking time and being open to speak with me about her coming up and about race. you know about three and a half years ago, i talked -- i was having a cup of 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. and i said you know i would like to do something up town and take something with prominent people. and he said no live, big people, think big, huge. so he said msnbc is the place you got to do it. this is way before "politics nation." so i'm not sure if tonight was 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 are on our way. we'll be right back. with the spark miles card from capital one bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth

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>> welcome back welcome back and it 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. she went from a junior banker to a wall street power house, and lisa price, who started out as

an assistant on the cosby show and is now the owner and beauty editor of her own copy. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you. >> now, we as we talk about the dream moving forward have to also deal with the fact that we have had gender inequality in this country. and you have broken barriers and you have had to deal with the gender inequality and gender bias. and even today, women still only make 77 cents for every dollar men make. how did you break through, lisa and get from where you were, doing the assistant work on the cosby show to how now everybody is aware. >> well, a lot of it comes from being from a 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 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 -- came up in the business world, cover of fortune magazine. you were called one of the eight most prominent power brokers on wall street, and then what happened? tell your story. >> i got fired. >> we know about that in harlem -- >> i shared it with everyone. yeah, you know look what i would say is that women you talked about have been moving side ways for a period of time. unfortunately, on wall street, we have been moving back wards. and despite the fact the gender diversity has been shown to reduce risks, increase returns,

increase client focus and long-term innovation all of wall street's views. what we've seen is a step back which is not unusual in a downturn, people sort of circle the wagons. not because they're bad people but when we're under stress we like being with people like ourselves. >> so what you saw was a retreat in the forward movement on gender equality? >> 100%. >> so where do you think it is now and what needs to be done? >> well, you know, i would love to say -- and here we go what i am happy to say is the discussion we're having about advancing the dream and about gender diversity, hillary clinton, condoleezza rice and marie slaughter, that we are having a moment here. i've never seen a conversation like we're having to really make people aware of these issues. but i have hope. none of it happens without hard

work believing you can do it. it has to be percentagesonal, and then the leaders of the institution need to be on board. >> lisa, you built up. it was not the skyscraper, how did you get men and women in your community to believe in your dream? >> well i was in my kitchen making beauty products selling them at craft fairs in my neighborhood. hiring young people to come and work with me at my house. so it is something that has always been a part of the community and a part of my family. i am still in the same house where i started cooking my products. and that attachment is always going to be there. and it is really about showing someone else, i don't have it all figured out. i'm a constant work in progress. i'm constantly learning and developing. because i went born a beauty executive. i used to work in television production. that has nothing to do with

beauty. 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 an american woman or african american woman, the biggest obstacles that i have faced is the woman right here. the can i, should i? you have to silence that. and like tyler said it is a lot of faith and prayer and sometimes other people praying for you when you can't find the words yourself. >> we'll bring you back lisa price, a lot more to talk about. thank you, though right now. we're going to take a break. more coming up. >> cory booker and more. we'll be right back live in the apollo in a moment.

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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. ♪ very superstitious ♪ 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, delivered." ♪ signed sealed delivered i'm yours ♪ ♪ here i am baby signed, sealed delivered, i'm yours ♪ ♪ here uam baby ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the one and only stevie wonder. am baby ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the one and only stevie wonder.am baby ♪

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 against 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 in entertainment and 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 afraid of differences than we are today. so i'm just very happy that you've invited me to come and be 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 old little girlfriends back in the day. baby, 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 at dr. king he was a student of

mahatma 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. and joanne woodward. >> 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. you know, i tried to do all the things other 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. >> all right then. >> 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 at 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, new york mayor and new jersey senate candidate 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, that late night. my mom didn't want me to stay up late. i would stay 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 that 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.

>> yes. 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. and so my parents became a part of a sting operation where the white couple would follow my parents. 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 it is a bad thing. >> thank you, rev. >> 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. the reality is my parents said i'm part of a larger historical movement in this country to make this country live up to its highest aspirations, highest

ideals. so for me, my heroes were people like when i was going through college, people like marion wright edelman. so i moved to newark and picked a neighborhood that was ironically on martin luther king boulevard. unfortunately, the man who stood at that intersection in the mid 1990s was one of the most dangerous intersections in new jersey at the time. but 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 mayor and aspiring 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. it. so what i'm hoping is our politics as we continue to evolve doesn't simply lie within a sector but we all in america 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 remove yourself 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 why 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? so real leadership is not people who 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 -- had 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. >> the story is worse. he had been arrested four or five times before, the 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 the 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 the tv and wept. 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 pain, 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 ♪ male announcer ] in your lifetime, you will lose 3 sets of keys 4 cell phones 7 socks and 6 weeks of sleep but one thing you don't want to lose is any more teeth. if you wear a partial, you are almost twice as likely to lose your supporting teeth. new poligrip and polident for partials 'seal

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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 socrates of our time. >> you're very kind reverend sharpton. i grew up in the ghetto of detroit. my father was an automobile factory worker. my mother worked in the 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. accused of murder. we believe he's innocent. but the reality is he was enthralled by the vicarious pleasures of street pharmaceuticals. so he was engaged in -- he slung drugs. he slung crack and marijuana. 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 failing, picked yourself up. >> right. >> 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 ain't got time to deconstruct that. secondly, what happened is he fell on hard times and as a result of the difficulties that he endured, he made some 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 remaining anonymous. so the point is that those people helped me transform. secondly, i had a job. a program that allowed young people to get a job. what does it mean to get up every day and get a job and go to work? i don't damn young people to have low-slung draws. raise up their dreams and their draws will follow. thirdly, justice, the fact that people like you, martin luther king jr., 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.

>> you went to princeton. melissa harris-perry tutors me. >> we'll be right back. ♪♪ if you wanna go and twist it you can twist it good ♪ ♪ and if you wanna go and lick it i believe you should ♪ ♪ don't need to play that basketball to dunk it ♪ ♪ don't need to play an instrument to funk it ♪ ♪ and if you don't have any milk then there's no milk to spill ♪ ♪ there's just a little sandwich cookie and it's wonderfilled ♪

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people here, i can ask all of you how you all can get me a job. i've always wanted to be a ballplayer. had a little acting thing going on. >> and we always wanted to sing, 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, magic, me

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 that i had the knowledge to really run a business and 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. so that's what it's about. >> 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 go any further 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, walk through the projects to get to school. so i wanted what was 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. 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. none of those things made sense to me. so it was my mind. once i was able to get my mind and bring it under captivity and believe that i could, everything else fell in place. whatever your situation is 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 all 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 descent and various people of considered minority descent, 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 the bottom of her heart you know you've got 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 prejudiced 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 together. you know?

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. it starts with little things. tiny changes in the brain. 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. every little click, call or donation adds up to something big.

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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 blaylock. 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 that means more of our young people will have jobs and opportunity. and i think that's really what's important. so i think in the '60s they were saying we almost owned more businesses than we own today. we have to get back to owning 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 to confront the educational system. [ applause ] 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 time to saying it's a fantasy, texas, is unacceptable. i just think we have to really, really keep it real. and i love you all in texas. i really do. i mean so don't feel offended. but i think we can't -- we can't act like something that truly happened didn't happen. it's real. confront it. deal with it, and make the difference by changing it.

[ applause ] >> as i look to 50 years from now, sitting here today, business and capitalism has a brand problem, and it should. and i am hopeful that as we look out 50 years that we can move away from just the focus on the shareholders to the focus on the communities and to the employees and recognize that you can do well and do good at the same time but that our business leadership really begins to embrace a true meritocracy where people get ahead because of their hard work not because of the color of their skin or their gender. >> i would say -- it's very important for young people if we're going to grow and for just people in managing their careers and their lives, whether you're 50 or you're 20 as w.e.b.

dubois said the great african-american educator the key is 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'll take on entrepreneurialism, you'll take on risk. you'll challenge yourself to be better and to control your own economic destiny. >> tyler perry? >> you know i'm hoping that i'm very hopeful just as 50 years ago was a much different place that in 50 years it's much different. a friend of mine was dropping his son off at school and his son point and said that's my friend. and my friend who is my age said which kid? are you talking the indian kid, the white kid? and his child looked at him like what are you talking about? he didn't see any race at all. so what i'm hoping is as we continue to celebrate our strengths and our diversity 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's what i'm hopeful for. >> cory booker? >> well i think we just have to have the courage to tell the truth. we've been having this conversation for decades. and the direction. social mobility has declined dramatically. social stratification is expanding in our country. my father born in 1936 growing up in the 50s had more of a chance to make it than in many ways we see happening now. the way to break with that is to have the honest conversation if we continue to do the same things over and over again, we're going get the same results. we are a country right now that is far more comfortable spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for failure prisons, hospitals, you name it than investing that money in what actually works. so we need to start reframing this conversation not in a right-left way, because that's getting us nowhere in america, but in a way that what works to

advance not just black people but all of america forward, because we all do better when we all do better. >> lisa? >> for me the most important difference that i want to see in 50 years is not that we have forgotten the story, but that the story is still not the same story being told. so i don't want anyone to ever forget emmett till. i don't anyone to ever forget trayvon martin but udon't want another one to occur. and for that to be the reason that we have the conversation. so i want my chirp to tell their children a story about how things used to be and this is how you behave not you have to be behave because things are still this way. [ applause ] >> you know, they have a song they have a song that i hope we can sing, the song i hope we can sing changing the lyric a little bit but making it where it will have been by then which is --

♪ we have overcome we have overcome we have overcome today ♪ ♪ whoa deep in my heart we do believe ♪ ♪ we have overcome today ♪ >> and let me say as we get ready to go let me say that as we as a country remember the dream, as i stood there at lincoln memorial and the 50th anniversary of dr. martin luther king's speech jenae ingraham asked me why are you so melancholy? i thought about how we still

face problems. but i thought how 50 years ago they came to washington on buses, couldn't stop in a rest room couldn't vote in most states. we came back 50 years later, and there was a black president in the white house and black attorney general. 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 had happened. that's when we know that we've 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 result of some dreamer that changed reality, and that's what we must do. thank you for being here tonight. thank you for watching. ♪ we have overcome we have

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