from tv to music to movies to broadway, she's got talent no doubt. >> how many times have you planted damaging rumors in the news for self-serving reasons? don't you worry your silky -- >> vanessa williams is our headliner. plus our round table discussion. it's on you to groom the next generation. all that up next.

all right. >> she was thrust into the spotlight as the first black woman to win the miss america title in 1984. but that high point ended with her losing her title amidst scandal, but that was not the last we heard of vanessa williams. scandal didn't break her. she took her immense talent and has been one of the most diverse entertainers of her generation. ♪ i recently caught up with the grammy, emmy and tony award

nominated entertainer to talk about her career, her 13th album "the real thing" and how she's done all of this as a mother of four. i was saying to you when we sat down, it is hard for me to believe, and i truly when doing research had to go back, i couldn't believe it had been 25 years since the world had really been introduced to you. does it seem like that or did it really fly by? >> it's both. sometimes it seems like yesterday and sometimes it's -- it seems like it went -- it's an eternity. you know, i won when i was 20 years old and at 46 years old, i think of how much i've learned, how much i've changed, how seasoned i've become and how much of my innocence was taken away at such a young age. i look at my daughters who are 22 and 20 and cherish the fact the they can still be themselves

and not be judged and not have to worry about who they are and being judged at such a young age. and when i, you know, watch kobe go through all of his trials and tribulations at such a young age it brought all the things that i had to do and really, you have to -- i was given an analogy of a tree going through a storm and even the limbs might be broken, swaying back and forth it doesn't change the makeup of the tree. when the storm is over the tree is still composed of the same material. and that's what anyone going through a crisis, which i've always been asked many times, how did you get through it, are there any words of advice, it's -- you know once the dust settles you are still who you are and you'll get your chance to shine. >> you know what was unique in the time that you went through your crisis and today, it seems as though there's so many crises today, every other day we find someone in a scandal, someone in a crisis, and it's off the back page fairly quickly on to the next scandal. for you it lives.

so there had to be a sense of being able to live through it and shine through it, which you did, which many didn't? >> well, it also was an interesting situation because miss america was something i never aspirds to be. i mean i won the whole thing within six months. i was in college majoring in musical theater and all of a sudden i was this image that completely changed my life. so, when it all went away, and i decided to resign and get on with my life, it didn't take away any of my talent or any of my drive but it changed a lot of perceptions. and that was the biggest obstacle for me to be taken seriously. and, you know, still to this day, being respected to me is the gravy for me. >> you're quick to say your age, quick to say -- >> 46, yeah. >> quick to say you've been in the business "x" number of years, not that we couldn't count that. >> right. of course you -- >> here's the truth and you know this, many people try to shy

away interest that, particularly females in this business. you don't seem to have struggled with it much, if at all, have you? >> i celebrate it. i mean, i love the fact that i've been in the business for so long, you know, on the set of "ugly betty" the young cast members come to me for advice. i love being the old sage that can have the answers for, nursing and what did you do when this happened with your agent and how did you overcome this and when it was live, what happened on broadway. i love being able to be a resource. >> when beauty was a great deal of who you were, and are, how do you reconcile so easily that beauty is timeless in one sense, but with the society that is so youth oriented, we often miss the beautiful women who remain in their 40s, 50s and 60s. how do you resign yourself to that? >> i am lucky that i have been

provided -- >> good genes. >> good genes. i work out hard. you know, i take good care of myself, but i also am happy i have a job now, that i play a strong powerful woman and her age is a joke, but it's also something not an issue. the fact that i can, you know, we're in our fourth season of "ugly betty" and i play a strong woman who's creator of a fashion magazine, though it's fictitious, no one says it's a black woman, this is a strong woman who is fierce. >> i know you want to fire me so go ahead and do it but if you expect me to gravel or apologize i think you ought to know you're talking to the wrong woman. good luck finding someone else that can do what i do. >> claire. we want you to stay. >> how much of what you've been able to do has affected your personal life, good or bad, in terms of balancing the career and the time it takes to grow to the levels that you have seen and still being, you know, a good mom and a provider and --

>> it's tough. i mean i've had two failed marriages. i've had moments where my, you know, i had to be there for my kids because growing up especially the teenage years there are times i have to say no to jobs because i had to be home to be the mother to be there or to set guidelines. so i wish i could say that it's easy and there's a balance, but i haven't been able to find a balance. i work really hard sometimes and sometimes i'm off. "vétu3vfqj"ç along and it's call great. at 46 years old, yes, i can dance like beyonce. do i want to do that at 46 years old? no. "our world" is being brought to you by -- but only malibu has onstar. big deal. i'llust use my phone.

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their 40s frankly, and i'll say this, i'm not asking you to, who are doing the same music they were doing when they were 20 and they sometimes wonder why their record sales aren't necessarily the same. >> right. >> i'm not sure you want to see a 50-year-old woman singing what a 20-year-old woman should be singing. >> right. >> talk to me about this. because it seems to be a personal album, too, based on what i know of your background as some of the songs you selected for this album. >> this album is called "the real thing" and it is kind of a look back at songs that influenced me. i love brazil, i love latin music. that's what i relax to, i salsa when i can. it just makes me feel tropical and free and wanting to throw back a mojito but makes me feel alive and to have a visceral feeling. and when i do my set, i do have at least three of the brazilian-ish type of songs i sing and love. >> we should know that is a sergio mendez/stevie wonder

composition. >> yeah. so between the real thing, bill wither song, hello like before again, beautiful bosinova but reminds me of grandma's hands and ain't no sunshine and use me the stuff i would listen to growing up that is still part of my soul. so, it was great to be able to revisit some of the old stuff, but also at 46 years old, yes, i can dance like beyonce, do i want to do that at 46 years old? no. ♪ when are we going to learn that we don't have a choice we both know how it ends ♪ >> if it came out organically from something i was singing, fine. but i think, again, like you said, people seeing someone of a certain age try to recreate what they've done for the past 20 years doesn't do them any service. >> as you said that, maybe we should revisit this. i don't know.

before we let you go, let me ask you, in terms of your entertainment legacy, you know, when we talk about people, there are always things that we denote, speak to who they are, personify them, what would you like that to be for you? >> most people that have any kind of connection, it's usually to a moment and if i can continue to create moments, whether it's singing "save the best for last" and saying oh, my god that saved my marriage, whether it's a moment on broadway where i would do a scene and it's made somebody want to be a musical theater because i've made a difference, as long as i can continue to make these moments, whatever the medium is, i've done my job. up next, our round table discussion.

are you reaching out to the next generation? >> to be and call out i fully agree with that. i think it should come from our community. i don't think we can always wait for someone else to step up and do what the men and other people in our community should be doing.

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a sweeping chaise sectional at the unheard of price, now just $399. with luxurious styling and so affordable, $399. from jennifer. young people face a world of problems today and often don't know where to turn. many believe that mentoring is a way to keep them pointed in the right direction. joining me today are three people who have taken on the task of mentoring and changing the lives of many young people. philip banks, president of 100 black men of america, which founded the all boys eagle academy school, we should note that's the new york chapter, beverly bond is an activist and founder of black girls rock, a non-profit that serves to empower young women. we'll get into that in just a minute. and bill strickland president and ceo of manchestered bywell

corporation which founded the craftmen guild to provide training to the youth in pittsburgh. welcome you all, greatly appreciate it. let me start with you. you've been doing this a mighty long time. >> 40 years. >> the idea of mentoring is something that i think was years ago almost a given. you knew you mentored young people and some way, somehow we lost our way in doing that. talk to me about this, what seems to be thankfully, a re-emergens of people involving themselves with young people. >> well, i've committed myself to this work because i, myself, was mentored by a public schoolteacher who found out that i had value, possibilities, so i'm living out the example autobiographically of someone who said i had value in spite of what the school system said, the streets taught me. he helped me get into the university of pittsburgh as a probation nary student. i graduated from pitt with

honors, now a trustee of the university of pittsburgh and i was at commencement speaker and got up in front of 13,000 people and said don't give up on the poor kids they might end up being the commencement speaker some day. people are a function of role models. you to have positive images in front of you. the degradation of the streets and poverty and drugs have destroyed those for kids to see positive role models. >> beverly, we should know sometimes it only takes one person literally to change your entire life. you've been able to touch a huge number of young girls to empower them, not only with the love and the knowledge of music and talk to us about what you do, but also the confidence of going forward and doing and believing what you can do. >> absolutely. you know, i think the statement in itself, black girls rock, is something that needed to be said and something that we all needed to hear, not just little girls, but all women of color. because it wasn't something that we were used to hearing, used to

seeing, the messages of the media were not telling us that. it was to me the statement itself was like an affirmation. i originally whiz going to a t-shirt line and this is way bigger than something for me. this is something for all of us, this is something that needs to be said. >> you know what's unique in the industry that you have made a name for yourself, and the music industry and particularly the slice of it that you do, deejaying, is truly an old boys, male network. you've been able to not only knock down barriers, but mentor young women to say, hey, even though it's not our world yet, there is room for you in this world? >> absolutely. i think that, you know, i think women's voices need to be -- we definitely need to represent music. i think a lack of women as far as rappers and deejays, i think that has a lot, it contributes to just the lop-sided imagery of women. we need to be there. >> philip banks, talk to me a bit about, obviously, 100 black

men mentor on many levels across the country nationally with the national efforts as well as local chapters but eagle academy, founded for all boys, is interesting in the uniqueness in the sense of not only was it to give them an academic environment that maybe is better suited than having little girls in the hallway all the time and chasing, also the idea of teaching them manhood. >> right. that's what we do at the eagle academy. we understand that teaching them leadership and character development what is we focus on. there are seven communities here in the city of new york that populate over 70% of the new york prison population. and we've committed to put a school in each one of those particular communities. the uniqueness of our school, it is a public school, but we have the youngsters going to school six days a week, but the mentoring is the uniqueness of the school. we believe they'll be what they see. >> mr. banks, how do we get out of the cliche nature of what we've fallen into, the idea of

each one teach one, they will be what they see, et cetera, how do we take it from that to actually a move of action? >> well, you have to get involved. obviously a lot of people who don't get involved really don't recognize the crisis that is happening in our community. >> it is a crisis. let us say that out loud. >> and as necessary for, as you said, there need to be a call out, i fully agree with that. too many people in our community, i think it should come if from our community, i don't think we can always wait for someone else to step up and do what the men and other people in our community should be doing. >> bill strickland, talk about the indelible mark mentoring leaves, not to the one who mentors but to the meanty, the idea it can, as i stated earlier, not only shape your life but really make you who you are for the rest of your life. >> mentorship is done correctly, it is a transferens of values and a world view. it's not just be good because being good is right, it's a way of thinking, it's a way of scaling your values, way of

seeing yourself and it sets up the relationship of responsibility. what these folks do is to transfer responsibility for the next group and consequently that gets transferred and that's how you break historical patterns. it's through subsequent generations. it's not just one group, it's the experience that gets translated for many groups. >> beverly, i know you have seen throughout the young women or throughout the years with the young women you work with, the idea that they do take this from the time you meet them to when they're done with your programming, go on through life. i'm 50 years old almost, a year shy of it, and my mentor, i still call to this day and i'm a grown man, and say should i do this, what do you think? >> right. >> it does stay with you. >> yeah. >> the girls we mentor in our program are between the ages of 12 and 17 and i think that's a vulnerable age for them. i think it's an age where people are not necessarily paying attention to the kids anymore. know what i mean? i think that group really needs

the help. they are in statistics, they are at high risk for all kinds of behavioral and sexual behavioral problems, and i think it's important to go in there and intervene and let those girls be kids, teach them and let them know that they are going to be the future curators of our culture. >> too often we spend too much time with the regurnlgtation of the need to form another group, another think tank, another grant that's given to think about it, when we have these things that work, why not replicate them? >> right. >> we've got to actualize these words into real life experiences so that we can create human beings who can make a permanent contributions in these communities. >> i thank you all for joining us today and salute you for all of what you've been doing. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we'll be back right after this.

that does it for this edition of "our world with black enter price." until next time, i'm ed gordon and thanks for making our world until next time, i'm ed gordon and thanks for making our world your world. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com