good sunday morning. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. tomorrow the nation pauses to remember and commemorate the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr. for many, the king holiday is a day of service, a day of dialogue in our neighborhoods and communities. tomorrow many in our area will roll up their sleeves to keep the dream alive. a guest this morning this morning are lillie jessie, with the alumni chapter of delta sigma beta sorority, also vice chair of the prince william county school board. emmjolee mendoza is director of campus ministry and community service at catholic university. and nicholas smith is a senior at forest park high school. welcome to "viewpoint," all of you.

>> thank you. >> emmjolee, tell us about your project tomorrow and what you folks will be doing. >> we have over 800 students, staff and faculty and alumni signed up for our national day of service for martin luther king. very excited. 11 years ago, 26 people and here we have grown to 800 people. they'll be working on a variety of projects on the national mall to little sisters of the poor, franciscan monastery, all community organizations that are in the district of colombia. >> and where are your volunteers coming from, workers? >> from the catholic university of community. i think it's a testimony of our community wanting to engage in service. so primarily mostly students. so i think considering they could be asleep on their day off of school, i think is pretty telling of our student population, and their desire to engage in service. >> and are they high school students, middle school students? >> university. so 18 to 21-year-olds.

but we have faculty and alumni. our university president and his wife, president garvey, will be volunteering on this day. and so i think it's important that we see the leadership of our university out in the community as well. >> big effort, a lot of energy there. lillie, the deltas are sponsoring an oratorcal contest, one of the largest celebrations of the king holiday of its type in this regionel. tell us about. >> this is our 26th year. our 31st year for the king day celebration. initially, we invited speakers, the traditional bring in a speaker, speaking before an audience and a church. and about 26 years ago, i was given the opportunity to chair the social action committee, and decided we would try to use oratorical, because dr. king as you know, was an orator. so our sorority sponsors a program at hilton memorial

chapel, and it will be monday, the 11:00, and we have a competition of all high school and middle school students. at level one, they compete at their high schools and then the high school selects a -- the best speaker at that high school, followed by a competition at level two, which is before judges. so the judges listen to all the high school and middle school students, and then we select the -- the judges select the top three high school students and the top three middle school students to speak on martin luther king day. and we have attendance of about 2 dlourks 500 people. i think it's the best kept secret in the area. >> a secret that's finally out. >> yeah. >> and nicholas, you're a big part of this. you're taking part in the contest. in the oratorical contest. tell us about your participation.

what are you going to talk about? >> well, come tomorrow, i'm going to be talking about a lot of what the current generation can provide. the theme this year is "imagine what if." and i'm basically playing off imagine what if the current generation, hope for today and tomorrow. >> and this is not your first time taking part. you were in it last year, is it? >> yes, ma'am. i competed in some capacity since sixth grade. whether or not i was on the regional level competing at the school or just before the judges, i've been involved in the competition somewhat. >> so what does it mean to you as a young person, following in the footsteps of dr. king to celebrate his legacy in this way? >> well, i think dr. king had a really important legacy. it's important that this generation continues to maintain what he talked about in his generation. because a lot of the things still play over into our generation. >> emmjolee, talk about how important these projects are to the king legacy. >> i think it's important that we use our body and our action to commemorate what martin luther king stood for. he is also a man of faith in the

universe. we're motivated by our faith and i think that's important to understand that through our faith and through our actions, we can make a huge impact in the community. >> and then lillie, that's exactly what the contest is all about. i understand there will also be a choir. >> we formed a choir the first year -- the second year we formed the martin luther king community choir. there are about 100, 200 students in that choir. in fact, at one point, we had 300 students. and many of our speakers actually come from the choir. like nicholas followed this program from sixth grade and continued to compete. many of the speakers over the past 26 years have been students who were in that martin luther king choir. and as you know, dr. king was an orator. the idea of the students being there really has to do with the legacy of the african-american community, especially in the

churches. and i know you're a part of the church. that the or asian is a gift the students have. so it's an opportunity for them to share dr. king's legacy and also highlight those academic skills of being writing, presenting a persuasive speech before a large audience. >> all right. we're going to continue our talk about dr. king day and keeping the dream alive right after this. stay with us.

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welcome back. we're talking this morning about king day, which the nation will celebrate tomorrow, and

organizations here in the washington area will celebrate in their own way. one of them is the campus ministry and community service at catholic university. emmjolee, what you've done, what you're doing, you've talked about promotes a sense of community. talk about how important that is in a day like this, where, you know, communities are a little disconnected. people are sort of disattracted, and many are really engaged in a dialogue that's not very constructive, many fear. the president talked a little about that in his address to the nation the other night. talk about what bringing so many people together really says to the rest of this -- of the world. >> i think that when you bring over 800 people -- and i think that you're talking about such a large number, is the power of change. and i think that's something that dr. martin luther king kind of shared with us and something that i carry is that there is an

opportunity for change in our most simple action, but also in a large number. and i think that that's important for us to recognize that as an individual, that impact may seem smaller, but when you see 800 people going out into the community, having an investment and caring for their neighbor, that can create a lot of change and be inspiring to them and hopefully an inspiration to the larger d.c. community. >> nicholas, is it an inspiration to your generation? it's been a tough year and an interesting year for young african-americans and african-american males in particular. a year of protest, a year when people have stood up and taken on their own mantle of change and people want their voices heard. they want to right the wrongs they see in their communities and in society. >> yes, ma'am. i think it is important that our generation gets out there and takes action. i believe that our generation as

a future has to play a pivotal role in seeing where dr. martin luther king's legacy continues. so i'm glad to see 800 people out in the streets making a difference. >> and where you're going to be. you'll be part of the group of six presenting the speeches. but you've got thousands of people who turn out to the events sponsored in principle william county. >> yes. it gets nerve-racking sometimes. but once you step on stage and get the first sentence out, then i feel like you start to say what you have to. >> have you always been interested in public speaking? >> yes, ma'am. since a young age. sometimes my parents would say i talk too much. to get into public speaking. >> lillie, it provides a vehicle for him to exercise a talent that he's obviously been given, but also to express his own activism. >> it really does. and -- when i was a principal, some of the students that came to the office, the teachers would always say they just talk

too much. and a lot of these kids do have the gift for gab. but when we started this contest, initially these students would recite one of dr. king's speeches. and then it came from the students. they said to me, ms. jessie, we don't want recitation, we want to write our own speeches. because they do have the gift for taking an idea and taking a concept. so we this themes like "by the contest of your character." or "let's meet at the table of brotherhood." and there are students like nicholas all over in these high schools. a lot of these kids who are talking in classrooms, we just need to take that and see it as a gift, and sort of push it in a direction where they can use that gift. because communication is really very, very pivotal for our students as we look at 21st century skills. >> absolutely. and you know this first-hand,

because you've been a teacher, you've been a principal. >> yes. i've been a teacher, i have been a principal in a school. i've been a supervisor of students. most of my work has been with diverse populations. and for me, it's un -- you're unleashing a gift that these students have. and my chapter, we're so proud. to be honest with you, we were shocked at the first -- the first oratorical at garfield high school, it was standing-room only. and we were shocked. and they were cheering. and then we moved to a larger venue. and at one point we had 3,500. and some of our students have gone on to speak at the governor's mansion. we've had three or four students speak at the white house. and it was the students who said to me, we don't need note cards. they went from actually reciting a speech to writing a speech

based on a theme and staying within that theme. and about five years into the competition, i was on stage, and i noticed they didn't have note cards. and i said, where are your note cards? and they said, "we don't need our note cards." >> wow. >> and they haven't used note cards since. and if you come on monday, you will see that these kids walk across that stage and they just take on that audience. and there are people from all over cheering. they have come from new york, all over the united states, just to see this contest. >> oh, it sounds worth seeing. all right. >> it's great. >> we're going to take a break. when we come back, we're going to talk more about what these two fine organizations do the rest of the year. stay with us.

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welcome back. we're talking about king day. it's tomorrow, the day of service here in the washington area. there's a lot going on. and we're talking this morning with catholic youth campus ministry and community service and the prince william chapter of the delta sigma beta sorority. emmjolee, tell us more about the campus ministry and service and what it does the rest of the year. >> we are engaged in lots of different service opportunities. i would say the heart of our program is to connect our cua, catholic university america community with our neighbors. we happen to be in northeast and there's lots of need there. so we work with the elderly, people with disabilities. and i would say it's really about building relationships. do we know who the people are who live in our own neighborhoods? do we know our neighbors, and do we know them not just by face, but do we know their story? and so i would say that from a day-to-day basis, we have

students, probably over 2,000 volunteers throughout the academic year, on monday through saturday -- actually monday through sunday, going out into the community and just volunteering. and really focused on that relationship building. >> you mention neighbors, knowing and helping one another. it is amazing, isn't it, that many of us live in communities, and we don't know who lives next door? we don't know their stories? >> i know, it's not like growing up in the south where everyone knew you, and when you came home from school they would say, "did you pass your grade," everyone knew you. >> or the other neighbors' children and looking out for them. >> and disciplined them. >> and disciplined them. exactly right. >> we don't do that any more. >> the deltas are very community-oriented. >> very much so. >> throughout your history. what are some of the big projects? i know you do many. what are some of the biggest projects? >> we have a delta gems program where we work with young ladies, 11 to 14. and we provide them with

empowering kinds of activities for self esteem. we are also -- there's an embodiment the program, where we work with young males, african-american males. because, you know, we're talking about nicholas, but we're involved in those types of projects. there's a political element to -- and king, the social action piece, we're also engaged in voter registration opportunities and activities. there's a physical and mental health issue to -- of delta. so we have worked with breast cancer kinds of activiti. so we are engaged in a lot of things. we do career opportunities for our high school kids and we do college trips. also, in that education realm, we have a huge project where we work -- we invite authors in. in fact, we had several authors in recently. authors in the community and

national authors where we have book talks and they share book talks. so we are extremely, extremely busy. and that's -- we are -- we are community service organization. that's really what we're all about. >> nicholas, talk about college and career for you. i know you thought about it. >> yes, ma'am. it's very stressful process, getting in the applications. virginia tech right now is the college that i strive for. i really hope to be attending there in the fall. we don't hear back until spring, april time. >> that's part of the stress, right? >> yes, ma'am. >> what do you want to do? >> i want to become an engineer, specifically in the biomedical field. and help people with disabilities. if you have an amputated arm, work with prosthetics and in that field. >> is there anyone in your family who has done that or is that -- >> no, ma'am. >> an idea -- a pursuit that starts with you? >> it starts with me. i've just -- growing up, you

just see certain people and you're like, man, i wish i could help them. and going into the biomedical field, you might be able to work on things to help that were born with disabilities. >> all right. that sounds wonderful. and a way to keep the dream alive. we'll continue our talk, right after this.

welcome back. finally, emmjolee, we've all grown up in different communities, different parts of the country. i grew up in the southwest in the desert. and in different eras, with different families and communities. but we've all been impacted in our own way. what does this day of service mean to you, and what does the king legacy mean to you? >> honestly, i think it means

something much more simple. we're using the theme of darkness cannot drive out darkness, hate cannot drive out hate. only love can do that. and i think if i were to simplify it, it's about the power of love in a community. so when you see the university come together or even the power of an individual in the love for one another, that can make a huge change. and so i would say, you know, sometimes it's intimidating to do something big. but if you can have the power to love one another, that change can be significant. and i think that's really what martin luther king in this moment in my life has taught me and inspires me to do, to help others. >> interesting. lillie. >> i grew up in south carolina. and when i watched "the help," and my mom was a maid, and i just remember going to the back door to pick up the newspaper to bring it -- going to the front door, picking up the newspaper, having to bring it back through the garage. and i've never forgotten that. and i attended south carolina

state. most people don't know that there was a massacre at south carolina state. i was there four years prior and participated in the mlk marches. that was part of my legacy. and so this -- this idea of opening up doors and coretta scott, to talks about education, that it should be a day where kids are not just at home watching television and to have three -- 2 or 3,000 people there, and to have all of these high school participate and these young people. that's what it means to me. >> nicholas. >> dr. king means a lot to me, because without him i wouldn't be in the position i am today. his legacy allowed me opportunities that my father and ancestors could not go through. and i think that dr. king's legacy is important for all kids for this generation. because he taught me unity, having faith, and with all of this, we will be able to strive for greatness. >> well said, nicholas! thank you.

how can our viewers get involved in your days of service? >> i would go on our web page, service.cway.edu and encourage you to look in your own communities. if district of columbia is too far away. there are lots of ways to get engaged. >> lillie. >> our program at hilton memorial chapel. and i think the west way to remember that, that it's right next door to potomac mills. and you can go to their website at hiltonmemorialchapel and you'll get directions there. there is seating for 3,000 people. we would like to see you monday. >> good to see you all this morning. thank you so much for being with us. and thank you. that's "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us for ""news4 today."" "news4 today."" today."

right now on "news4 today," get ready for the big freeze. tom's tracking the chilliest weather we've seen all winter and what could be the first s w snowstorm all weekend. and two men almost got on a plane headed to join isis. how their plan was foiled. and the caucus tonight, right here on nbc 4. good morning. hoping you're having a good sunday morning. i'm adam tuss. >> and i'm angie goff. first, the real cold is ready to return. >> it is. tom's tracking a little more than