>> here and now, the program featuring the news and interests of the african-american community. here's your host, sandra bookman. >> coming up, pope francis coming to the u.s. what his visit means to black catholics here in new york and across the country. and manybabies, helping get services to families with children who have special needs. also, a group of brooklyn students now holding the title world-champion debaters. and later, a look at the early days of the harlem globetrotters -- a new documentary about the talent and tolerance it took to become game-changers.

"here and now." join the millions who have already switched. we switched. and now, we're streaming netflix. who knew time warner cable's internet was so fast! mom switched. and now, we can watch our favorite shows together, on demand. i switched. so i can connect to the internet just about anywhere with my free twc wifi hotspots. join the millions who switched to time warner cable. for $89.99 a month, you'll get 100meg internet, and hundreds of hd channels. you'll also get unlimited calling across the u.s. and 34 other countries around the world. call today. i switched. now i have a free app that

lets me watch tv whenever i have the time. for $89.99 a month you'll get tv, internet and phone. and if you call now, there's no risk, no contract, no catch, no kidding. i switched to time warner cable and knew exactly when they were coming. thanks to their one hour appointment window. switch to time warner cable today. and ask how you could get a $300 reward card. call today. >> according to the national black catholics congress, there are about 3 million black catholics in the u.s., including the thousands of black catholics here in new york city, all looking forward to pope francis' much anticipated visit. and joining us this afternoon is father mario powell, a jesuit priest,

father freddy washington, the pastor of st. mark the evangelist catholic church in harlem, and brother tyrone davis, the director of the office of black ministry of the archdiocese of new york. thank you all for being with us this afternoon. you know, the city -- really, the country -- is giddy about the pope coming here, so i want to ask the three of you what it means to you and your fellow catholics here in new york city that this pontiff, who has never visited the united states before, is going to spend a few days here. >> i think for -- you know, this is the first time i've been, as a priest, in a city in which a pope has visited, and so, for me, it's really quite exciting to be around for this pope's visit, but especially for this pope's visit, because, as a jesuit priest, it's -- he's a jesuit -- it's personal. it's personal. so, it's welcoming him home, in a sense. >> father washington? >> yes. i think it's a great excitement that kind of follows from his election. i mean, people were on the edge

of their seats, wondering who was going to be the new pope. and once they found out he was one from the americas and just that excitement of having someone from this hemisphere, who can speak to the reality of people who are disenfranchised, et cetera -- i think that's the great excitement. >> and among your congregation -- you're the only pastors sitting here today. are they excited? are they making plans to get out there in central park and...? >> people want to be there all [ laughter ] >> no matter where -- if he's there, they want to be there. >> yes. [ laughs ] >> and how does the diocese get ready for the pope? i mean, you know, we had a glimpse at some of the things that are being done. >> i think those who are somewhat on the inside -- we don't really have an answer to your question. >> [ laughs ] >> i think there's so much excitement and concerns and so forth that it becomes, at times, a little confusing. but it's still a very positive

air, positive attitude, and excitement. i've experienced -- this is probably my third pope that i've experienced visiting new york, and for each one of them, it's been exciting, but i think this is probably the most exciting of the papal visits that i've experienced. >> why do you say that? is it because francis seems to be so much a man of the people, especially the poor and the disenfranchised? >> i think so. i think he has been -- he has taken a route for himself and has spoken in ways that people may not have heard before, whether we're talking about the rich of our communities, but, more especially, those who are, as father freddy kind of mentioned, those who have been disenfranchised, those who may have been alienated from church. somehow, they feel a connect. and i also see a great connect

those who are not even catholic. >> mm-hmm. >> a great connect. >> that's true. recently, of course, he made some changes in the church when it comes to annulment. so, people really see him, in some sense, as a progressive pontiff. is that an accurate characterization? >> i wouldn't say he's progressive as much as i would say he is -- he's a pope that i think speaks to the real lives of catholics, and the reality is when you have loving catholics whose marriages don't work, and i think he speaks to the frustration in the process, and there's nothing in terms of large theological change that's taking place, but i do think he's speaking to the realities of people's lives in a way that i don't think people are used to. >> some have said that he sees people where they are. >> yes.

>> and his big focus seems to be to get people to the church, to minister them, to also draw them to the church. >> that, i think, is a valid point. i think the whole thing of what prevents us from entering into the church, what are hurdles, are blocks, that somehow keeps us from that? and if someone was going through a process of annulment and it cost money and they don't have money, does it prevent them from even having their day, you know, of explaining or trying to present their arguments for what's going on? >> and he wants to make that easier for them? >> mm-hmm. >> i have to ask you, i know that over the last few years, there have been a lot of talk about, you know, the church role's declining. obviously, we've seen churches close here, schools close here. is it your thought that with so many people following everything francis -- pope francis -- does and says so closely that we'll

see those numbers rise, particularly against people that may have felt disenfranchised, may be looking for a spiritual home, that he -- and what he stands for, the sort of back-to-basics christianity -- they see that as attractive and will attract them? >> yeah. >> i would hope so, and i think that, you know, again, following up on something that father mario said, i don't think that pope francis has really turned church doctrine on its head. >> mm-hmm. >> i think he has really challenged particularly those of us who are in ministry to look at how we are ministering to those who are members of the flock but particularly to those who are most in need. i think in the whole area of families, he has said people define families in many different ways. and some of those are inconsistent with church teaching, but the real issue is,

how do we minister to people in their families as they see them, not how do we transform them, particularly at this moment? are we ministering to that? and i think he's made that message worldwide to all of his bishops and cardinals. talk to the people. find out what they need and examine how we are ministering to them. >> is his message particularly attractive, do you think, to black catholics? >> i think he speaks about -- his theology, i think, has a certain tinge of social justice attached to it that i think is very attractive to blacks, and it's very familiar to blacks, because i think you can't talk about a black church without talking about black politics, and i think what francis is doing when he talks about the poor, when he talks about the way that we gather together economically, talks about the environment, he's really speaking, i think, to a long

history of black political and religious involvement that really speaks to people that are disenfranchised, people that are on the margins of society, and in the united states, i think that plays well within the black community. >> and, father washington, you have the oldest black catholic church in harlem. >> in harlem, yes. you know, our parish of st. mark was founded particularly to minister among the african-americans and those from the caribbean who came to northern manhattan. and i think that one of the realities is that people are looking for a sense of joy, and i think the pope captures that, even as he talks about what is good news. >> from the very beginning, he's talked about that. >> and so that church shouldn't be an experience of coming from a funeral but coming from an experience of joy, and i think that's captivating for african-americans. >> yeah, and in your church, you still get that -- sometimes you walk in, you could think you were in a baptist church.

[ laughter ] >> i think, to some degree, when we talk about how the message of pope francis resonates with black folks, with black catholics, i'd more rather speak about the potential for it resonating. >> mm-hmm. >> and i think that depends upon how the message is conveyed and interpreted by church leaders, because people come to church, and they need their pastors to talk to them about what is being said. let's face it -- most folks in the pews are not reading anyone's documents. but the person in the pulpit hopefully has read the documents, and it depends upon him how he conveys and tells that story. and i think if he tells that story of what pope francis has written and what he is saying to people, i think it will resonate at very, very high levels. >> i am looking forward to the visit next week, and perhaps we'll have you guys back on and you talk about the visit and

what we see in the weeks after he -- he leaves. thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. up next on "here and now," an organization that's helping make life a little bit easier for families of children with

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>> parenting a child with special needs comes with extraordinary challenges, and when the twin boys of our next guest were diagnosed with autism and speech and language delays, she realized just how limited are. that's when manybabies was born. with us today, the founder of manybabies, schaneick thomas. so nice to meet you, schaneick. >> same here. >> you really turned what had to be challenging and painful for you into help for so many other women. tell me when you realized that your boys had some special needs. >> they were about 2 years old. they weren't speaking and developing like other 2-year-olds, and i tried -- i thought maybe they were just

on, so i was waiting for that "aha!" moment, and that "aha!" moment took a long time to come. so, i put them in a private school at 3 years old, and they still had challenges, but i was still waiting for that "aha!" moment. and it was when i put them in a different school for a summer program -- they were there for only five days -- and the program director said, "i think you should get them evaluated." and i'm like, "evaluated? what do you mean?" she said, "there's something that's a little bit different." she was very sensitive when she told me, and she said that there's just something that's a little bit different, and there are certain milestones that they should have accomplished by now, and they haven't, so i said, "okay. what do i do? where do i go?" and she gave me a contact place, and i went through the process, which was long and intimidating. >> mm-hmm. >> i had a team of people that came to my home and also to the

facility that they were in just to observe and evaluate them, and then after all that was over, they brought me into a room surrounded by that same team of evaluators, and i had this -- it seemed like a booklet at the time -- of everything that was just wrong with my children. and i was sitting there, and i said, "okay, you guys have to stop," because i had to hear it twice 'cause i have twins. >> yeah. >> and i said, "you just have to give me a minute to process," because it became extremely overwhelming, and what i heard -- that there's something wrong, there's something wrong, there's something wrong. and when you look at them, you see them as being perfect. >> now, when you started getting the help that your sons need -- we should mention they're now 7, almost 8, and little terrors, you said. >> [ laughing ] yeah. >> but when you started getting them -- tried to get them the services they needed, figure out what services they needed, what kind of problems did you run in to that make you say, "you know what? i need to help other people so

they don't have to, you know, did." >> well, there was hiccups between what the schools were saying that my boys did not deserve versus what their i.e.p. said that they deserved, because their i.e.p., their individualized education program -- that's a legal document, and it clearly states in black and white, "these are the services your child's supposed to get." well, what i found was that the school was a little bit resistant or they were very slow in giving my children the services, and there was a lot of back and forth where the attention was now on us as opposed to what's in the best interests of our children. >> so, what is it that manybabies is able to help parents do when they find themselves in the same situation that you were in? >> well, what we try to do -- not what we try to do, what we do -- is we give that hand-over-hand service to our families, because that was something that i wish that i

would have had. oftentimes, you find people will say, "go to this website" or "go to this organization." they'll give you the information, they'll give it to you on paper, but then you're left, like, trying to figure out, "how do i apply this?" >> so, you walk with them, holding their hand through the process? >> yes, until they get to a certain level of comfortability, where they can advocate for themselves and pay it forward by helping out other families. >> how rewarding is it for you to be able to do this? >> i often say that i am here to serve. i think that all people are here to have -- to serve others. i think that it's very important to give back, and because i can help someone through the grace of god, that is rewarding. >> mm-hmm. >> i think that he gives us experiences so that we can share. we learn from those experiences, and then we share so that someone else coming behind us or alongside us do not have to fall

>> okay. and manybabiesnyc.org. >> yes. >> go to that website. find out more about your organization... >> yes. >> ...and, if somebody needs assistance, how to get it? >> yes. they can contact us through that website. there's a contact page where you can send your e-mail. there's a phone number that you can reach us. we're also looking for people who want to volunteer some time, because, you know, we're a nonprofit, if they want to help donate to the cause so that we can continue to help out families in the community, that would be appreciated, as well. >> all right. schaneick thomas, manybabies, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. >> no, thank you. i appreciate it. >> still ahead on "here and now," why poorly maintained roads in the new york city area are costing

stay with us. join the millions who have already switched. we switched. and now, we're streaming netflix. who knew time warner cable's internet was so fast! mom switched. and now, we can watch our favorite shows together, on demand. i switched. so i can connect to the internet just about anywhere with my free twc wifi hotspots. join the millions who switched to time warner cable. for $89.99 a month, you'll get 100meg internet, and hundreds of hd channels. you'll also get unlimited calling across the u.s. and 34 other countries around the world. call today. i switched. now i have a free app that lets me watch tv whenever i have the time. for $89.99 a month you'll get tv, internet and phone. and if you call now, there's no risk, no contract, no catch, no kidding. i switched to time warner cable and knew exactly when they were coming. thanks to their one hour appointment window. switch to time warner cable today.

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>> more than half the roads in the new york city urban area -- that includes newark, new jersey -- are reported to be in poor condition. that's according to a recently released report by trip. it's a nonprofit organization that researches and evaluates road conditions across the country. and that rough ride -- well, it is costing you money. with us today is aaa spokesman robert sinclair. nice to see you here... >> good to see you. >> ...instead of standing on some hot roadway. >> yeah, or cold. >> or cold, depending on the season. >> indeed. >> this report -- when i said it costs money, it's no joke. the report found that an average of over $700 among new yorkers spend on their cars because the roads are in bad condition. >> right. i think the total was $781, and that's actually up from the report that they

was $675, so it's getting worse. the roads are in bad shape. you hit the roads. you damage your wheels, your tires, your suspension components, rack and pinion, control arm, springs, struts, all these kind of things, and, in fact, if the road is bad enough, you might even drop the car down so it could tear up underneath the engine and the transmission -- the whole undercarriage. so, it is a very impressive -- negatively impressive -- figure that the average motorist in our area is spending this on a yearly basis in order to keep their car up to par. it's a bad situation. >> and so, you know, where does the blame fall? is it local folks? is it the feds? the feds. the gasoline tax hasn't been raised since clinton was president. it's 18.4 cents per gallon. it's not indexed to inflation, so we do not have enough money to fix our roads. a lot of the money that we spend on our roads comes from the feds at the state and local level, and the number is 51% for our area.

nationwide, it's 23% of the roads are in poor condition. so, it seems no matter where you go, you're gonna be in bad shape. so, we've been advocating for various bills in congress that would raise the gasoline tax a nickel a gallon this year, nickel a gallon next year, the following year, and congress seems to not want to raise taxes. it's the third rail of politics. >> which kind of doesn't make sense, particularly when you're talking about the gas tax these days when you look at the fact that gasoline -- right now, it's been pretty low for quite a few months. >> it's been pretty low, and, in fact, since last year, probably this time last year, we've seen gasoline prices fluctuate by more than $1. you know, they went down, we were near -- we were high $2 a gallon, $2.20, $2.30, back in january, and now we're upwards of $3 a gallon, so who would have seen a nickel in those fluctuations of gasoline prices? so, it's something nobody would even notice, and it would make a tremendous difference, not just for the roads but for the economy. the national association of manufacturers say bad roads create congestion.

it makes it difficult for them to get raw materials in and finished goods out from manufacturing facilities. the jobs that would be created -- it would be a tremendous boost. but congress keep playing these games, and, you know, now they're talking about repatriating money from overseas and all that. we'll see what happens. >> [ chuckles ] >> yeah. you? you know, this is the time of the year, in part because the gas prices are so low and, in part, it's the season. it's summer. many people are on the roads, so safety -- a big issue. one of the issues we heard a lot about lately is advocating for seat-belt use in the back seat, not just the front seat. why is that important? >> the back-seat bullet phenomenon. you can be restrained in the front seat, but if you are 16 years of age or older in the state of new york, you do not have to wear a seat belt in the back seat. well, what happens is if the vehicle especially is moving quickly enough and strikes a fixed object, the unrestrained

people or cargo in the back go flying forward. i remember years ago, a certain car company had an ad called "the elephant in the back seat," and it talked about a 60-pound child in the back seat. if that vehicle were to strike a fixed object at 50 miles an hour, that child would be propelled forward with the force equivalent to the weight of a baby elephant -- nearly 1,000 pounds. so, it's a very bad situation. in new york, in emergency rooms, trauma surgeons will tell you about partition face, where somebody was in the back of a cab... >> smashed into the... >> ...and they smashed their face in on the partition. so, it's very important that we wear our seat belts, no matter where we are in the vehicle. i remember a state trooper who worked on the thruway told me he has never unbuckled a dead person, and something like 33,000 people are killed on our nation's highways every year. more than half of them are not wearing their seat belt. >> so, whatever perceived inconvenience, it is definitely worth saving your life. >> absolutely. >> another issue these days that you can't get beyond, and even though i think we all know it's ridiculous -- texting and driving.

>> oh, yeah. we did a study last year where we put cameras in cars with teenagers, and, you know, for the first -- it was in there for a week, and something like 500 teens -- the first two or three days, model behavior. they were perfect drivers. then they lapsed into their bad habits, and texting definitely was part of it, and it was so bad to the point now where we say that distractions, texting among them, are responsible for 48% of the crashes where teenagers get into trouble -- crashes. so, you know, it's bad and getting worse, and manufacturers are putting these things in the cars that make them rolling smartphones so you can do texting, you can do e-mails, you can facebook, you can -- all you're behind the wheel. you can't do it. itself -- >> focus. >> yeah. driving in and of itself is multitasking. you know, you're controlling a heavy object moving at speed. you have to know rules and regulations of the road, conditions. you. they say driving in an urban

situation is akin to a pilot flying a plane during landing, takeoff, and low-level flight. there's a tremendous amount to do, and you have to concentrate fully to do it. you shouldn't be distracted. >> and, you know, speaking of distractions, if you're driving in new york city, you see more bicyclists on the road, and so i think as drivers, we do these days, especially in this city and others, we have to learn to share the ride -- the road -- with bicyclists. not so easy for a lot of people. >> it's difficult. i mean, the city has been on a kick, especially during the bloomberg administration, putting in a lot of bike lanes and what have you, but there wasn't a whole lot of, let's say, engineering study done in many cases when these bike lanes were put in, and, oftentimes, they're put in and maybe one or two persons an hour would use them. so, we've got an old city. it was not designed for cars. it wasn't really designed for horse and buggies, either. so, with everybody trying to use the road at the same time, it makes it very difficult, and we have to be aware of each other when we're on the road. >> all right. robert sinclair of aaa, always nice to see you.

>> good to see you. >> you always pick up the phone. >> [ chuckles ] yes, i do. anytime. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome.

>> a group of students from brooklyn are more than making their point. they have been declared

they are the young solomon debate team, representing team u.s.a. >> freedom from civil disturbance, a state in which there is no war or fighting, harmony in personal relations -- all of these things define peace. >> if you want to make peace, you have to... >> nobody gets to choose where they were born, when they were born, or whom they were being conceived from. why should we have to carry the burden of fear and shame of what we look like when our mere existence was forced upon us? >> i've fought against white domination, and i've fought against black domination. i've chased the ideal of an eclectic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities. it is an ideal i hope to live for and achieve, but, if need be, it is an ideal i wish to die for. >> this afternoon, michael white, the founder of the solomon debate league, along

with debate coach thomas paisley and champion debater shavanes robinson. thank you all for being with us this afternoon. congratulations, shavanes. >> thank you so much. >> does it feel as good as i champion? >> trust me, the feeling is awesome to know that you have been doing great and that, for doing great, you're actually being seen as such, so, yes, it feels very much as it should. >> you were recognized for all the hard work. >> all the hard work is really paying off. >> and what was it? your debate team -- how large is it? >> it consists of eight people... >> eight? okay. >> ...sometimes two extras. >> okay. all right. so, mr. white, this all started -- it's a fascinating story to me. you wrote two books, essentially about, you know, a young man growing up in an urban environment, and you felt like his story, solomon -- "solomon's adventures" -- was a good way of helping children to

>> ...and helping inner-city kids learn what was possible. so, how did this grow into the debate league? >> well, the objective was to put something out that our kids would be able to enjoy but yet learn from. and, uh, the best way to do that, i felt, was from getting them to talk about the experience. that's the reason why we have a series of books. and what it does is it allows the youngsters, first of all, to say, "this is me" or "this could be me" or "in my neighborhood, this is somebody that i know." and once that happened, it was to break down that barrier so that language arts would be able to be used.

children in new jersey and in new york, according to a recent standardized test, kids that are of color... >> mm-hmm. >> ...fail language arts. and so this was an opportunity to give them something that would level the playing field, and that's why we utilized this book here and now even internationally in places like south africa. >> it engages them... >> it engages. right. >> ...to read the story. they could put themselves in that, and, you know, even if they're just enjoying the story, they're learning... >> exactly. >> ...and, in a way, learning how to express themselves and think about the possibilities. >> yes. >> now, mr. paisley, you saw -- you were introduced -- i think you two met on a train or a plane or...? >> yes. we met on the new jersey transit. >> uh-huh. >> i was commuting back from work. >> and you talked to him. >> he introduced -- >> he's very, yeah, convincing. >> yes.

>> and he convinced you to read the books. >> i read the book, and it also came with the cd. and at our school, we had a program that is now a -- it's a transfer school, but at the time, it was a program. and i found that, along with the book and the cd, i was able to get it into the classroom, and they were able to work with a lot of different students that were on a lot of different levels. and as slim as the book looked, it deceived me at first. but as i read it, i saw that it moved up in level very quickly. so, we started off with the class debates, and it grew into school debates, and they started to energize the school, and students started to talk about ideas and concepts rather than material things, rather than people, and it was transformative. >> and why was it your feeling,

that could really enga-- that could really use "solomon's adventures"? i mean, for a lot of us, i don't know that we would have made that leap. but you made it, and it's successful. >> the leap was made by observing our youngsters. they're always arguing. [ laughter ] >> aren't we all? >> but now the opportunity to argue in a setting where, you know, there are rules and regulations was a thing that you had to do. and, actually, i got that from when i was teaching at printing trade school and we had these rough children that were in the school. i had to find a way to get them to be able to settle down and to voice themselves in an organized manner. >> mm-hmm. >> and so that's when i first came upon the idea of creating debates. >> okay. now, shavanes, what is it about debate that you -- that

sucked you in and made you good at it? >> well, really, naturally, i am a very argumentative person. >> [ laughs ] >> and... >> an honest man, too. >> yeah. and now i see debate as a way of transforming all my other emotions into more logically acceptable manner, into something that's much more acceptable and means a lot more to a lot of people and myself. >> and now you know how to do the research, get your facts, and know what you're talking about and make your point. >> i mean, at first, it was difficult, but i had a great coach, mr. paisley. he made it seem so easy. at first it was difficult, but now i could do it in just a second. >> well, you're a champion. [ laughter ] mr. paisley, i know that you had never coached debate before, but you stepped in because you wanted this program to succeed and to get stronger. you know, what does it mean to you to watch shavanes and the other kids blossom? >> well, to actually see where

now, it's only been five years, and it's really grown. it's really grown. it's really made a mark. we've instilled our whole community-school concept because not only do we have the students being able to resonate ideas, but it goes through the administration. it goes to the c.b.o.s. it goes through the community. it goes through even the elected officials. and, believe it or not, we're competitive whether it's a private school, charter schools, public schools. it doesn't matter about what type of school it is. if you're prepared, you're prepared. >> and the last team you beat was south africa? >> yes. team south africa. >> team south africa. >> mm-hmm. >> hey, i'm impressed. i'm -- i'm very impressed. and it all started with, as you

slight books, and they turned out to be much more than that. now, you guys, you're in bed-stuy. >> yes. >> where? >> right in the heart of bed-stuy, on utica and fulton. >> mm-hmm. okay. and solomonsadventures.com -- we can find out information about the books and the cds. >> solomonbooksonline.com. >> okay. solomonsbooksonline.com. >> solomon... >> solomon. >> ...booksonline.com. >> okay -- .com. >> the biggest thing that they have now is when we met at the consulate to determine the debate, the south african consulate, their consul said, "if we win the trophy, we're gonna present it to our leader." so, we said, "if we win the trophy, we're gonna present it to our leader." so, the world leader's cup trophy now has been won by us, and our next thing is to be able to present it to the president, who is our leader. >> okay.

so, you're working on that. >> so we're working on it, and we certainly want to make sure that if he can, he can receive that, because they worked very hard to allow this trophy to be put into his hands. >> all right. thank you all for being with us, and keep us posted. we want to know how that turns out. >> mm-hmm. >> all right. well, thank you.

we'll be right back. join the millions who have already switched. we switched. and now, we're streaming netflix. who knew time warner cable's internet was so fast! mom switched. and now, we can watch our favorite shows together, on demand. i switched. so i can connect to the internet just about anywhere with my free twc wifi hotspots. join the millions who switched to time warner cable. for $89.99 a month, you'll get 100meg internet, and hundreds of hd channels. you'll also get unlimited calling across the u.s. and 34 other countries around the world. call today. i switched. now i have a free app that lets me watch tv whenever i have the time. for $89.99 a month you'll get tv, internet and phone. and if you call now, there's no risk, no contract, no catch, no kidding. i switched to time warner cable and knew exactly when they were coming. thanks to their one hour

switch to time warner cable today. and ask how you could get a $300 reward card. call today. it's the final countdown! the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. >> the early days of the harlem globetrotters is a story

about talent and tolerance on and off the basketball court. the emmy award-winning documentary "game changers: how the globetrotters battled racism" reveals how the world-renowned players managed to succeed despite barriers. take a look. >> constantly on the road, they took on any and all white teams willing to accept the challenge, routinely beating them. >> it's just that we were better ballplayers and we had a much better team. we are as good, if not better, than you are. you got more opportunities. we don't have those opportunities. we are better, and the only reason that we don't have those opportunities is that our skin is dark. >> let's be a little bit fair and maybe not so condescending here about the white players of that era. they were playing a different type of basketball. they did not have the jumping ability, the athleticism, that a lot of the black players had, so they used what they had. they just couldn't do what the

guys of color were able to do from the very, very, very beginning. >> and with us today is legendary harlem globetrotter carl green and the executive director of our children's foundation, mr. samuel brown. thank you both for being with us this afternoon. >> thank you for having us. >> mr. green, i said to you when you sat down that most of us think about just the happy faces when you say, >> right. >> but it wasn't always like that behind the scenes. >> definitely not. >> what -- first of all, when were you a globetrotter? what's the -- >> started in 1954. >> mm-hmm, when -- and you played for the globetrotters for...? >> five years. >> yeah. and as you traveled around the country and around the world, in some places, you were treated not like the globetrotters we expect but just like another black man. tell us a little bit about some of the things the team encountered.

restaurants in the south, and, uh...we had to stay at people's houses. and it was kind of difficult, because, coming from new york... >> mm-hmm. >> ...i knew it was prejudiced but not this type of prejudice, where they have signs up, saying, "no colored." and that bothered me, 'cause, you know, coming from new york, i went to junior high school with all black kids, but i wasn't feeling what it was. you know what i mean? >> you were a little insulated, you think? >> right. so, when i went to high school, i went to high school with white kids -- italians, mostly, and spanish. and, uh... it opened my eyes that they were having problems and we were having problems, too, and so it

was kind of like everything was physical. >> mm-hmm. >> intimidation. and, you know, i grew up -- i couldn't be intimidated. my mother taught me things that, you know, i stood up for my rights, and that was it. and this guy was the same. and all the people around us -- not all, but most of the people around us -- turned out to be drug addicts and killed, jail, whatever. and so when i finished playing with the globetrotters and saw all of this stuff around the world, it was worse than what i saw here, so i said, "this is a joke. they're playing around. those people over there was killing each other" in the same places where -- bosnia and where they're isis and all. i was in those places, and it was scary. >> it's very scary. >> you know? i mean, one night, i was in one

to go out to eat at night. and i saw this man on the sidewalk with his arms so bony, and he was begging. and i seen some wild kids. you know, they were -- i said, "no, i'm not going out tonight." you know? so... >> and you were a person that felt like you could handle >> yeah. >> yeah, but you were smart enough to know, "maybe i need to stay where i am tonight." >> that's right. >> what did being on the harlem globetrotters teach you, ultimately? >> [ sighs ] >> the things you saw on the road, as well as just the opportunity to play before people and to learn all these things from around the world. >> first of all, it taught me that -- you know, one guy that i grew up with and went to high school with played with the trotters, too. name is charlie hoxie. and he was like a couple years older than me, and i always looked up to him, the way he carried himself, and, you know, us traveling together, going to

me, because, you know, when i was young, they'd had air raids for the war, you know, in the '40s, and i used to wonder, you know, they'd cut out the lights and pull down the shade to the window. so, when i got to europe and it was still war-torn in the '50s and saw all this misery -- you know what i mean? -- it was kind of shocking to me, you know? >> did it give you a new outlook about your own neighborhood or your own upbringing and where you came from? >> definitely so. so, you know, when i came back from the trotters, mr. brown had been to college and did things, and he walked up to me one day and said, "hey, you know, we need to help these kids." >> mm-hmm. and so that is where i'm gonna pull you in to the conversation, mr. brown. you started an organization,

>> why was that something important to you? now, you two grew up in the same neighborhood... >> right. >> ...so you'd known each other, you told me, for over 60 years now. >> yeah. >> yeah. why was this something near and dear to your heart, and how did you think that mr. green here could help you to realize that dream or help you to make that dream -- you know, really help it to blossom? >> well, with me, i had a couple tragedies in my life. i had a brother who was, uh -- who was -- who was -- who was killed on 116th street over a card game for 10 cents. i, uh... when it happened, i was away, and i heard my mother and father -- they was crying about the funeral and things like that, and it just -- i really felt for them. it just really hurt me.

do something that would make my parents proud, and i knew what i had to do had to do with kids, and i wanted to make sure that kids would not be the way i was and that they would go out and do things and make their parents proud and not just want to do it the other way. >> mm-hmm. >> by the same token, i had a brother, another brother, who died of overdose of drugs. i had another brother who died of h.i.v. you know, so, we've been through the whole spectrum of things, and it's about helping the kids help themselves, their community, and their parents. >> and why do you think mr. green is such a good fit for this? mr. green, by the way, you're the chairman of the board at our children's foundation. >> mm-hmm. >> well, you know, i had been watching carl for a long time. >> yeah. he told me you were always watching him. >> yeah. right.

he used to come on the block, and he would go down to the -- what's the name of the place? >> arcade. >> arcade, the place where you'd buy your french fries. >> right. >> and i wanted to know, "what is he doing on my block?" you know, so i was just watching him, and i kept watching him, and i saw the things that he was doing, and i had a lot of respect for him, and so, uh... you know, we just hit it off. >> yeah. and so, what, the organization's about 30 years old now? >> no, it's almost 50 years old. >> is it almost -- oh, it's 50? >> mm-hmm. >> oh, please, pardon me. and it's a full-service organization. talk to me about what it is that you do with the children. i mean, you offer, really, everything. >> well, the first thing is that we provide the children with a foundational development, meaning that we develop our kids of their skills they need for the rest of their life, and we also work with the parents, the grandparents, and the small kids. we provide from etiquette

classes to fencing classes, tutoring classes, education excursions, all of those type of things. any instrument that you'd want to get involved in, we have those things for the kids, and we also heavily deal with college, and so that's what we do. >> yeah. and i know that a big part of it is you take the kids. you start really young with the >> right. >> 'cause i was reading the thought is that even a 6-year-old could appreciate a visit to a college? >> yes. yes, of course. the reason for that is that when we say a college, we take an education excursion every year, and it's for about 12 to 13 days, and we've taken all the kids to all of the so-called historical black colleges from philadelphia down to florida. we take them to mcgill university in toronto.

those kind of things with kids, and the thought was, you know, the other culture -- their kids, young kids, always go to college to see what their big brother and big sister is doing. but our kids never had the chance to do that, so we wanted to expose them to that part of it, so they could dream about college, and, yes, we start them as young as 4. >> and if somebody wanted to find out more information about what our children's foundation does...? >> call... we're in the process of putting up a website. >> okay. all right. thank you so much for being with us this afternoon, and please continue your work. if you've been around 50 years, taking care of these children and their families, you must be doing it right. >> trying to. >> thank you both.

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