bornave duke ellington 1899.n in the circles and trust that those in power have our best interest in mind. , that've seen the butler is a good example of his character. work with the system and the system will work for you. his something's he is crazy. duke ellington is very much like his character, let's work with the system. the system will work for us if we are patient. in 1969, for all of the backpedaling the next administration did, nixon himself was a musician. he realized duke ellington had been the foremost ambassador of all of these guys. award,rved this highest this presidential medal of freedom. for duke ellington receiving validationthat was as a musician and as african-american man working for equal rights and civil rights. that is how he perceive this. to work within the channels he was given. that is one way thinking about the old guard of these jazz musicians. randy was on the opposite. he is 26 years old or. he's a whole generation removed. in the same year duke ellington received the presidentia

you have duke ellington born 1899. in the circles that we are given and trust that those in power have our best interest in mind. if you've seen the butler, that good example. forest whitaker's character who has seen his son become a black panther says you guys are crazy. work with the system and the system will work for you. his son thinks he is crazy. duke ellington is very much like this character, let's work with the system. the system will work for us if we are patient. for his part in 1969, for all of nixonckpedaling the administration did on civil rights issues, nixon himself was a musician. he was a fan of jazz. he realized duke ellington had been the foremost ambassador of all of these guys. he deserved this highest award that a civilian of the united states can win, this presidential medal of freedom. for duke ellington receiving this award that was validation as a musician and as african-american man working for equal rights and civil rights. that is how he perceived this. willing to work with an official es

the smith allwright case, marshall's reputation had spread, and while touring texas, jazz great duke ellington his concerts and paid his band, so he could sit in court and watch history being made. roger wilkins: marshall became, particularly in the black community, asuper hero very quickly. he was a celebrity. and that did an enormous amount for the naacp. they had this star lawyer who was legenday for his courage. it took the organization to a different level. marshall really made the second coming in the naacp from the mid-40s on. narrator: as the cause moved forward through the 1940s, the u.s. entered world war two. marshall was now faced with one more distraction from the education strategy, as he was forced to defend black soldiers who were victims of discrimination in the segregated services. roger wilkins: i think the war really changed things, because these guys came back and some were dead and some didn't have arms or legs or whatever. and they were fighting for freedom in the usa and the american way. they were fairly young men and they had lives to live, and, you know, and they wou

richness from theighborhood place where frederick douglass made his home to you street where duke ellington made his roots. come back often to visit this national museum of african american history and culture and celebrate how far we have come together. may god continue to bless you, the district of columbia, and the united states of america. thank you. [applause] > please welcome three-time .rammy> winner angelique to [applause] ♪ emancipate yourself from mental slavery have no fear none of them can stop the time how long shall they kill our profits while we stand aside and lose something is just a part of it you help to say songs of freedom. all i ever had redemption song ♪demption song ♪ emancipate yourself from mental slavery ♪ nobody but ourselves can free the mind ♪ none of them can stop the time ♪ how long shall they killed the profit ♪ while we stand aside and lose just a part ofs it freedomg the ♪ all i ever had ♪ redemption song ♪ all i ever had ♪ redemption song freedomngs of of freedom [applause] you.ank ,o date is a special day bridging our cultures and or cells. know yourys b

richness from theighborhood place where frederick douglass made his home to you street where duke ellingtonots. come back often to visit this national museum of african american history and culture and celebrate how far we have come together. may god continue to bless you, the district of columbia, and the united states of america. thank you. [applause]