martin luther king jr, students. so i wrote a letter to martin luther kinng, and students. ote a letter to martin luther kinng, and told him i needed his help. he wrote me back and sent me a round—trip greyhound bus ticket. so in march of 1958, by this time i am 18 years old, and i saw martin luther king jr standing behind a desk. i was so scared. and doctor king spoke up and said i do jon lewis? are you the boy from troy? and from that day only started calling me the boy troy. we became friends. the first arrest of me occurred in nashville. i was sitting there in an orderly, peaceful, non—violent fashion, waiting to be served, and a waitress put up a sign that the lunch counter saying the counter is closed. and we continue to just counter is closed. and we continue tojust sit counter is closed. and we continue to just sit and wait. i was beaten, arrested and ta ken to just sit and wait. i was beaten, arrested and taken to jail. when i was arrested, i felt so free, i felt so was arrested, i felt so free, i felt so liberated. you arrest me, you beat me, me injail, but what el

so, in march of 1958, by this time i am 18 years old, and i saw martin luther kinng standing behind a the boy from troy? and from that day on he started calling me the boy from troy. we became friends. the first arrest of me occurred in nashville. i was sitting there in an orderly, peaceful, non—violent fashion, waiting to be served, and a waitress put up a sign that the lunch counter saying the counter is closed. and we continued to just sit and wait. i was beaten, arrested, and taken to jail. when i was arrested, i felt so free, i felt so liberated. you arrest me, you beat me, put me in jail, but what else can you do to me? you can kill me, but dr king said it was better to die a physical death than to die a spiritual or psychological death. 0n the morning of 28 august, 1963, when it was my time to speak, looking out over that crowd. i saw hundreds and thousands of young people, fresh from the jails of the south, fresh from the struggle, the frontline there. and when it was my turn to speak, i spoke. i did my best. when the march was all over, when dr king had finished speaking, we

as dr martin luther kinng said, hate is too heavy a burden to bear.nder president—to—be trump. i say to you as role models, never give up. never give in. stand up, speak up. when you see something that is not right and not fair and notjust, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something, and not be quiet. applause. yes, we have come a distance, we have made a lot of progress as a nation and as a people, but we are not there yet. we almost become participants in a democratic process. when you get old enough to register to vote, go and register and vote. the vote is precious. it is almost sacred. it is the most powerful non—violent instrument and tool that we have in a democratic society, and we must use it. dream dreams and never, ever give up on your dreams. applause. i close by saying thank you. i wish you well. just go for it. people all over this city, all over this state, all over this nation are pulling for you. stay away from violence. as i said earlier, never hate. the way of love is a better way. thank you very much. applause. c