when i left the bank, i was so surprised by this, that i called harry bellafonte and said, harry, youn't tell me i'd have to sign a demand promissory note. he said, well, better you than me. i said, but you have more money than i do. but in any event it was done, and we were appreciative of it, i took the money to birmingham, and the following, that was on a saturday, the following tuesday, there was a messenger that came to my office with an envelope marked personal and confidential, and the envelope and there was the promissory note i signed and it said paid in full. obviously i didn't pay it, it had been paid. that was a profound experience. first of all, a very great gesture on the part of the rockefeller family. to make it clear, i hear references about my contribution to dr. king's speech. dr. king wrote most of his speeches, i was honored together with the very dear, beloved friend of mine and a major adviser to him by the name of stanley levenson. periodically to provide suggested material, in connection with the speech he gave on the march on washington, i had provided him wi

us to make music and be more represented in the struggle, harry bellafonte put me onto the dream defendersooked like me, snap back on, tattoos but he was standing up there and said something very important. he said we're not here protesting. i want people to be clear about that with dream defenders, we're not here protesting, not here demonstrating, not trying to retry george zimmerman or get in a time machine and go back in the past. this is about a movement forward. they have the trayvon martin act that they came up with to support what the naacp and trayvon martin's family is doing with trayvon's law, and it's about trying to push forward that legislation. when i see young people putting their bodies and their lives on the line to do that i feel it's my obligation not just as an artist but human being as a man to support this. >> you posted on your blog after you stated in florida's capitol building all night thursday. i want to read for our audience what you posted. "online activism is only a tool for actual activism because if it doesn't exist in real life, it doesn't really exist. th

not only did harry bellafonte bailed martin luther king out of jail so he can march, he paid all of couldr coretta scott k. barry gordy put martin luther king's speech on a record and gave those reels and those tapes back to the king family. thank you so much, do not forget 50 years. i'm out. thank you. >>> jamie foxx on the podium, speak about telling the history and passing it on from generation to generation. i'm here with chris matthews. that's what you do as an author, as an anchor. that's what you doverry day. >> we look back at the moments of what happened 50 years ago. people like marlon brando, charleston heston, all the big stars, diane carroll were on the side together for civil rights. it's an impressive thing. his generation were activists. >> right now on the possible dim, our colleague, al sharpton. >> 50 years ago when they came to washington it was not for an event, it was in the middle of struggles. it was in the middle of battles to break down the walls of apartheid in america. dr. king, and those that fought with him, they fought and they beat jim crow. we come today t

heston and civil rights historian says that came from king's private collaboration with singer harry bellafonteankly, what can i do to help? and king's response was that he needed to bring the presence of hollywood people and others of high visibility in to some relationship with the movement in order to continue to elevate the status and statue of the movement. >> that calculation worked, as did another one. clarence jones says when they were planning the order of speeches, martin luther king was originally scheduled to be in the middle of speeches. jones said he should be put at the end because he'd be tough to follow and his advice was taken and it was historic. >> folks were saying that until that pivotal moment, he wasn't exactly exciting people in that huge crowd. >> right. in the first part it was a policy speech and he was losing the audience and then the gospel singer interrupted him and said tell them about a dream and she and others had heard an earlier version at a rally. >> and the rest is history, as we say. >> right. >> you can see much more of "time"'s magazine issue at time.com

. >> harry bellafonte joining me from new york. thank you so much for your time.now this is a period of reflection for so many people at this point. people look back. they say what's happened? what progress has been made? there is now an african-american president, but what do you see as the unfinished business from that march? >> well, the unfinished business from that gift that was given us by the people who struggled in that great campaign is the fact that we are watching those gains made through so much struggle, through so much sacrifice, through so much violence to in fact now be in the process of being dismantled, what's going on in north carolina, some of the things we've seen down in florida with the trayvon martin murder, with what we see going on in the supreme court and the reversal of the laws that were put in place to protect our voting rights and our voters. that was a big part of our campaign. to see all of that under threat now is deeply disturbing, but i'm convinced that there is an america that will be awakened to this reality and step into the