a. philip randolph was the person who really organized the -- what was called the brotherhood of sleeping car porters, and he became a great leader in the labor movement. a. philip randolph was an eloquent speaker, and even at the march on washington, and i tried to write it but in no way that i wrote it would have come out that way he introduced martin luther king, and he said, "martin luther king j.r.," and that always struck me, because that was sort of characteristic of his eloquence. but he was one who stressed organization. he always said, "at the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. you get what you can take. and you keep what you can hold, but you can't hold anything without power, and power comes from organization." i will never forget those words of his. c-span: pictures in here with you and lyndon johnson. >> guest: yes. c-span: that meeting, what was that about? >> guest: that was a meeting when rosa greg, president of the federation of colored women's clubs and i met with him to let him know more about us, but also to talk with him about some of our concerns

a. philip randolph, cesar chavez, so many other people who were so heavily involved.sident obama's said last year to mark the 50th anniversary on the steps of the lincoln memorial, i have been in this job for about a month and i remember those days, and he said, for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago, were there not in search for some abstract ideal. they were there seeking jobs as well as justice. not just the absence of oppression, but the presence of economic opportunity. in the passage of the civil rights act, less than a year later, was truly historic triumph. and as somebody who has had the privilege of enforcing that law, i took it as a solemn obligation. because i am acutely aware of the number of people who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure passage of that law. and so, you become it's really time today to make sure that we note our progress but also discussed the unfinished business. and, indeed, tremendous progress has been made. and i think some of the best examples are kamala harris as one of our speakers another example, senator padilla himse

a. philip randolph, cesar chavez, so many other people who were so heavily involved.ident obama said last year to mark

a. philip randolph, cesar chavez, so many other people who were so heavily involved.president obama said last year to mark that 50th anniversary on the steps of the lincoln memorial, i'd been in this job for about a month, and i remember those days. and he said: for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were there not in search of some abstract ideal, they were there seeking jobs as well as justice, not just the absence of oppression, but the presence of economic opportunity. and the passage of the civil rights act less than a year later was truly historic triumph. and as somebody who has had the privilege of enforcing that law, i took it as a solemn obligation because i am acutely aware of the number of people who made the ultimate sacrifice to insure passage of that law. and so, you know, it's really time today to make sure that we note our progressing but also -- progress but also discuss the unfinished business. and, indeed, tremendous progress has been made. and i think some of the best examples are, you know, kamala harris as one of our speakers. another e