secretary of labor; cecilia firethunder, former president of the oglala sioux tribe; faye wattleton,former national president of planned parenthood; randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers; and sheryl wudunn, pulitzer prizewinning writer and co-author of "half the sky." we are glad you joined us. irv it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> aft, making a difference every day. pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [applause] tavis: i have done these symposiums for years, and this is the first time in my 20-year career i have been blessed to moderate a panel of all women, and i will tell you this is the most difficult symposium my people have helped me produce. trying to get focused on this, trying to get media attention about this. when you put together a panel of experts, i have a few friends and industry. it is not so difficult to get a platform and i need to talk about the impending conversation. this has been like pulling teeth

and so, cecilia firethunder is a single mom back in the day. she has two kids, she goes on to become a nurse so that she can take care of her kids. she later runs for office and becomes the first woman to be the president of her sioux tribe. it's a wonderful story of single mothers -- of single mothers exercising their own agency. so that when dr. malveaux says that we don't even keep track of what happens on the reservation, cecilia firethunder, tell me what it's like for women these days, poor women and their children, just trying to navigate life on a reservation where the recession means nothing to them because it's always so much worse? >> first of all, i'm one of millions of american women who identify as native american. we represent a little over 500 tribes in america, large and small, the largest being the navajo, of course, and the second largest is mine, reservation, 2. 5 million acres of land, 40,000 citizens living in my country. over half of our population are 18 and under. he talks about "what recession"" during the depression i

and so, cecilia firethunder is a single mom back in the day. she has two kids, she goes on to become a nurse so that she can take care of her kids. she later runs for office and becomes the first woman to be the president of her sioux tribe. it's a wonderful story of single mothers -- of single mothers exercising their own agency. so that when dr. malveaux says that we don't even keep track of what happens on the reservation, cecilia firethunder, tell me what it's like for women these days, poor women and their children, just trying to navigate life on a reservation where the recession means nothing to them because it's always so much worse? >> first of all, i'm one of millions of american women who identify as native american. we represent a little over 500 tribes in america, large and small, the largest being the navajo, of course, and the second largest is mine, reservation, 2. 5 million acres of land, 40,000 citizens living in my country. over half of our population are 18 and under. he talks about "what recession"" during the depression i